These reassurances from industry experts has not stopped critics of the issue from sounding false alarms about destabilization and using them as a part of their political platforms or anti Obama rhetoric.
Those of us who are paying attention to the facts however, can clearly see that this is just one of the consistent things
President Obama has done and continues to do to protect us from environmental hazards big business has been trying to
ignore for decades. New legislation about pipeline safety and stricter guidelines for oil companies are also being revised
and continue to be submitted to congress for approval.
Like those guidelines, MATS guidelines are designed to offer “A number of implementation flexibilities….the EPA has a
long and successful history of using those flexibilities to insure smooth transition to cleaner technologies.” Those
“flexibilities” include time. From the time the rule is made law, companies are granted 3 years to comply with the new
rules with allowances for a fourth year if they are in the process of installing controls necessary for compliance.
The memorandum also lists actions that may be taken in order for a company to argue for more time or flexibility on
particular issues. It should be noted, however that in each of the steps on the list, making available to the public information about the company and the issue is a must. Is it possible that this step is playing a role in many companies choosing to throw in the towel and ‘retire’ rather than use all the allotted time to bring their factories up to date?
Asabi Hunter
HTAA