These standards were called for by the Clean Air Act Amendments more than 20 years ago and level the playing field for the many utilities that have already invested in modern mercury pollution control technologies.

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In 2006 the Illinois Pollution Control Board adopted mercury pollution standards of its own, which required all coal plants to install technologies to reduce mercury pollution by 90% or more by 2009 and 2013.

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Installing modern and widely-available pollution control technologies can reduce more than 90% of the mercury pollution that is harming both children's health and our environment.

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In the mid 1990s, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says that mercury emissions from coal plants totaled 1, 850 pounds per year.

FORBES: Coal Plants Belching Out Less Mercury

By installing pollution control equipment that cut all of its releases that include mercury, it avoided significant legal battles while also improving its system reliability.

FORBES: Coal Plants Belching Out Less Mercury

William Hite, general president of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters, says that while his union is "certainly concerned" about the potential for job losses, the mercury rule could also create thousands of jobs for workers who build and install pollution control equipment.

WSJ: EPA Tangles With New Critic: Labor

For example, our New Jersey coal plants with their various pollution-control systems have been able to reduce, by over 90 percent, emissions of mercury, acid gases and soot.

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