In late 1990, Congress passed and the President signed into law legislation that required significant reductions over a several-year period in the quantity of sulfur dioxide that electric utilities will be allowed to discharge into the air. Electric utilities that generate their electricity by burning inexpensive, but relatively high-sulfur, coal were most affected by this legislation. Some utilities complied with this legislation by changing to coal with a lower sulfur content. Other utilities complied with this legislation by installing devices on power plant smokestacks that would remove sulfur dioxide before it is discharged into the air.

Required:

1. In what places on the financial statements of coal-dependent electric utilities do you expect to observe the effects of this legislation?

2. In what places on the financial statements of companies that mine coal do you expect to observe the effects of this legislation?