In a recent commentary, NRG executive Lee Davis applauded the decision to scrap new regulations that would have reduced pollution emitted from coal-fired power plants in Maryland ("NRG committed to clean air in Md." May 11).
This despite the fact that the regulations would have saved millions of dollars and many lives in the process. This praise shows a blatant disregard for the company's stakeholders and for the Maryland Department of the Environment process, during which new public health safeguards had been finalized and implemented.
Mr. Davis dismisses the concerns of others who participated in the MDE process, claiming they had engaged in "endless litigation and sensationalism" in an effort to shutter the plants.
However, the new regulations wouldn't have shuttered the plants. What they would have done is potentially cost the company $40 million to $200 million per facility by requiring them to install more modern technology to reduce harmful pollution.
For example, the pollution from just one NRG-operated plant, the Dickerson Generating Station, cost Marylanders over $245 million each year in costs stemming from premature deaths, heart attacks, asthma attacks and other health-related issues, according to data collected by the Clean Air Task Force.
There's nothing fair or ethical about passing these expenses on to Maryland families in the form of pollution, rather than upgrading aging coal plants.
Gov. Larry Hogan and the management of NRG should honor the results of the MDE process and immediately reinstate the clean air regulations approved in January.
Bill Deysher, Parkville