An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (September 15,2014) describers the surging demand for high sulphur Illinois coal coinciding with Clean Air rules that demanded scrubbers in power plants that even the emissions across all coal deposits. With lower costs and located closer to coal fired plants, Illinois coal demand has surged as the quality of scrubbers installed as increased. Is the use of poorer quality coal whose gases can be purged good for the environment ? Should inputs to power plants also be regulated or should emissions be checked while providing flexibility to power plants?