TPO 41 Integrated essay

According to the reading, burning coal in power plants produces some waste materials, which can highly damage the environment. Some environmentalists propose to enact some new strict rules to lessen these harmful effects; however, these power companies do not like this idea at all and mentioned some reason for their belief. On the contrary, the professor believes all the mentioned reasons are nonsense and asserts that these regulations are necessary.

First, the company owners mentioned there are sufficient rules for protecting the environment; for instance, they use liner under the waste material to prevent leaking chemical materials to the soil. The professor, however, believes it is not enough. Because they use these liners only under the new ponds or new landfills, and nothing has been implemented for the existing ponds. Thus, there should be new regulation that forces them to use liner for both new and old ponds.

Second, the reading claims that the new rules may dissuade people from using recycled ash. They may think that these products are too harmful, so it is better not to use them. For example, some construction companies may stop using these ashes on concrete which leads to bigger deposits in the environment. On the other hand, the professor opposes this attitude and believes the experience of stricter rules on other materials shows that the rules do not affect the use of recycled material. As happened before, enacting new regulations on hazardous materials does not raise fear in people's minds who use recycled materials.

For the last part, the stricter rules lead to a massive increase in power plant expenses, so in exchange, they need to heighten the price of electricity which is not acceptable for people. However, the professor denies this by mentioning that it is true that the cost will increase, but it totally worth it. As some researchers have calculated, the total cost is approximately $ 50 billion, which leads to a one percent increase in each home bill. So it is not a considerable amount and it worth saving the environment by expending this money.