Power, pollution, and the imperiled environment II. East, Midwest, and West Coast: pollution-control plans of some major utilities; role of government in environmental matters; other proposed systems for reducing stack emissions

A number of the largest utility companies are embarking upon large-scale nuclear generating plant construction programs that may phase out up to 50 percent of their fossil-fuel stations by the end of the present decade. This move is being encouraged by the electrical suppliers, who, with the utilities and the AEC, are striving to convince a skeptical public that nuclear stations are completely safe and provide the best means for air-pollution abatement. Nevertheless, many fossil-fuel plants are still being planned and built, and more efficient methods of reducing stack gas emissions will have to be incorporated at these facilities if a general reduction in air-pollution levels is to be achieved while simultaneously meeting the accelerating demand for more electric energy. Government, too, has a role to play and a responsibility to fulfill in the public interest by enacting fair and practicable pollution-control legislation, and ensuring the enforcement of such statutes.