While industry representatives grumbled that they would have preferred the president's bill, several expressed general support for CAIR, which grants them more time to cut emissions than many environmentalists had demanded.
"CAIR should help clarify and streamline a contradictory and overlapping mess of existing regulations that plague industry and regulators," said Bryan Brendle, director of air quality for the National Association of Manufacturers. "Business planners need such certainty, and flexibility, when considering investments in technological upgrades that further clean our air, improve efficiency and boost economic growth."
Some environmental groups warned, however, that Americans may not realize the full benefits of the rule until 2022 because the cap-and-trade program allows utilities to bank pollution credits. The federal government's acid rain program -- which has used a cap-and-trade program to cut sulfur dioxide emissions for the past 15 years -- will not meet its 2000 emission targets until 2008, said John Stanton, senior counsel at the advocacy group Clear the Air, who called CAIR "too little, too late."
Even without that complication, the EPA predicts that several major municipalities -- including Washington -- are unlikely to achieve compliance with the Clean Air Act by the time the rule takes full effect in 2015.
"Many states will need additional cleanup to protect their citizens," said Frank O'Donnell of Clean Air Watch.
Agency officials have calculated that the benefits of CAIR will outweigh the costs to industry and consumers by as much as 25 to 1. According to the EPA, the rule could save $100 billion a year in health costs and $2 billion in yearly "visibility benefits," including improved views at national parks. The agency has estimated the cost to industry at $4 billion a year.
The agency has also said the new rule is not expected to increase retail electricity prices or homeowner utility bills noticeably until at least 2020.
Staff writers Shankar Vedantam and Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report.
