On the recordJuly 10, 1997
Let me point out a few facts to rebut points made by my colleague from Illinois. This is what the Congressional Budget Office has to say about this argument: Since the passage of the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 the private sector has faced a clear legislative mandate for lowering coal emissions. Electric utilities and large industrial users of coal now have a clear economic motive for selecting among current practices and new technologies the lowest cost option for reducing emissions. In other words, the passage of the Clean Air Act has led ultimately to the cleanup as private industries have used their own brain power to develop innovative technologies. It is not the DOE clean coal program which that same congressional office report argues has, in fact, been a waste of money because there has been very little payback scientifically, and there has been very little payback in terms of commercial technology.
Source
govinfo.gov
