Editorial: Regulations recently imposed by the government of Risemia call for unprecedented reductions in the amounts of pollutants manufacturers are allowed to discharge into the environment. It will take costly new pollution control equipment requiring expensive maintenance to comply with these regulations. Resultant price increases for Risemian manufactured goods will lead to the loss of some export markets. Clearly, therefore, annual exports of Risemian manufactured goods will in the future occur at diminished levels.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument in the editorial?

• AThe need to comply with the new regulations will stimulate the development within Risemia of new pollution control equipment for which a strong worldwide demand is likely to emerge.  
• BThe proposed regulations include a schedule of fines for noncompliance that escalate steeply in cases of repeated noncompliance.  
• CSavings from utilizing the chemicals captured by the pollution control equipment will remain far below the cost of maintaining the equipment.  
• DBy international standards, the levels of pollutants currently emitted by some of Risemia's manufacturing plants are not considered excessive.  
• EThe stockholders of most of Risemia's manufacturing corporations exert substantial pressure on the corporations to comply with environmental laws.