Pa. ranks high again in power plant pollution
Share with others:
Another pollution report, this one focused on health impacts of toxic air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants, says Pennsylvania has some of the worst toxic air pollution in the nation, second only to Ohio upwind.
But the continuing string of science detailing air pollution's effect on human health hasn't convinced House Republicans, who continue working to delay, and even block, the so-called Mercury Rule that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says will reduce toxic power plant emissions and save 17,000 lives a year.
On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Physicians for Social Responsibility tried to counter Republican efforts by releasing their report, "Toxic Power: How Power Plants Contaminate Our Air And States," listing the top 20 states with the worst toxic air. Ohio and Pennsylvania top the list, followed by Florida. Nearby West Virginia and Maryland also made the top 10.
The Mercury Rule calls for a reduction in mercury and other toxic substances, including other heavy metals and acidic gases.
The NRDC reviewed levels of 76 pollutants from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory -- including mercury, lead, arsenic, other heavy metals and hydrochloric acid -- that contribute to or worsen asthma and respiratory ailments and also can cause developmental disorders, neurological damage, birth defects, cancer and premature mortality.
Nearly half of the toxic pollution from industrial sources in the United States come from coal- and oil-fired power plants, the NRDC report says, with power plants being the single largest industrial source of toxic air in 28 states and the District of Columbia.
"Based on the EPA modeling of the health benefits of reducing toxic pollution from power plants, it is clear that a lot of lives are at stake," said Peter Altman, the defense council's climate campaign director. "The EPA is in the midst of updating clean-air safeguards, and some members of Congress are working to stop that, including members of the Pennsylvania delegation, who voted to slow down the national cleanup of toxic pollution and other pollutions."
On July 12, the House Energy & Commerce Committee endorsed an amendment to delay new air quality standards on claims the new rules "have the potential to impose tens of billions in compliance costs, eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs, drive up the price of energy, and reduce U.S. competitiveness in an increasingly global economy."
First Published July 21, 2011 12:00 am
