It also would require the federal government to enact by 2004 regulations for reducing emissions of mercury, which poisons fish. We also are concerned about climate changes. Gupta argues that it's more cost-effective for industry to regulate all four pollutants at once. Utilities can reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by switching from coal to cleaner fuels and by improving combustion technology. Since these steps also would reduce emissions of the other pollutants, he said, it makes sense to set targets for all four now.
Many utilities also favor the four-pollutant approach.
The companies could develop business plans and know the regulations and the cost a couple of years ahead. The Adirondack Council, however, worries that agreement on reducing carbon dioxide might be a long way off, so adding it to the mix threatens to delay action on acid rain, which has killed fish and damaged forests in much of the Adirondacks. The council says action is more urgent than ever in light of a recent congressional report concluding that earlier cuts in utility pollution have failed to reverse the effects of acid rain. It found that from 1992 to 1999, the acids from from nitrogen oxide actually increased in nearly half of the lakes surveyed in the Adirondacks. If we can stop acid rain and global warming at the same time and do it quickly, then great, but we're not sure that's possible.