There's another study out today about the cost ofmeeting EPA's new rules limiting mercury, this one from a Washington lobbiest. Once again, the numbers are huge.

 New Study Says EPA Mercury Rules Will Have Hefty Budget Impact – Our friends at Energy Daily today first reported that a new study from the EOP Foundation says the EPA mercury rules for boilers and utilities would cost the government almost $3 billion dollars over 10 years in power costs and retrofits.  The study says the rules will cost the government $166 million a year in higher power costs from utilities, while also saying it will pay $120 million annually to retrofit federally-owned electric generating units and boilers to comply with the EPA standards.  The Energy Daily points out that while the costs of the rules to utilities are controversial and hotly debate, the cost impacts on the federal government have received little notice.  I can send a copy of the study should you need it.

Also once again there is no attempt to quantify the costs that will be avoided with the new rules. The cost of individual and community health damaged by mercury. Are the pocketbooks of those who have to pay for the clean up more important than those who have been paying for these costs for decades -- if not centuries?