Bay State sets toughest US standards for air releases from old coal plants

摘要

Several power plants in Massachusetts that burn coal for all or part of their electricity generation must invest heavily in pollution reduction over the next few years to meet new air emissions standards that state officials are calling the toughest in the nationThe rules, unveiled last week, require the facilities-which Gov. Jane Swift's (R) office described as "the state's oldest and dirtiest power plants"-to significantly curtail NOx, SO2, CO2 and mercury releases over the next three to seven years. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) standards make Massachusetts the country's first state to require power plants to reduce CO2, which many scientists believe contributes to global warming.