According to today’s MSNBC article, clean air activists and utilities reacted differently to new rules directing 20 U.S. states to slash levels of tiny particles spewed by power plants, cars, and other sources by 2010.
The offending particles — 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair — are linked to premature death from heart and lung disease, as well as chronic bronchitis and asthma. Clean air advocates called the rules "a dirty power industry protection plan," and said they may actually hamper states' ability to clean up air pollution. That's because plants could comply with requirements by purchasing emission credits established by a nationwide "cap-and-trade" program proposed by the White House. "This is a flagrant gift to the electric power industry," said Frank O'Donnell of Clean Air Watch, an advocacy group. Such comments "take the rule out of context," said Steve Lomax, manager of air quality programs at the Edison Electric Institute, which lobbies for most big U.S. utilities. Utilities will spend $50 billion to install technology to comply with new clean-air standards set by the Bush administration, which require them to cut emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by 70 percent, Lomax said. | 
