Fact Pack

Electricity generation is our nation’s single largest source of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.(1) Nationally, annual power plant emissions are responsible for 40 percent of carbon dioxide (CO2), 76 percent of sulfur dioxide (SO2), 59 percent of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 37 percent of mercury (Hg). These four pollutants are the major cause of some of the most serious environmental problems the nation faces, including acid rain, smog, mercury contamination, and global warming.(1)

According to recent scientific studies, including information provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), power plants are responsible for:

• Over 30,000 premature deaths nationally per year, including over 6,000 in the Midwest – more than from auto deaths due to nonuse of seatbelts – and tens of thousands of lost workdays due to respiratory illness.(2)
• As much as one-half of summer smog, which triggers 34,000 emergency room visits, 14,700 hospitalizations, and 1.4 million asthma attacks each year in the Midwest.(2)
• Pervasive summer haze that reduces the upper Midwest’s recreational and quality of life values by over $115 million a year.(2)
• Nearly one-third of the mercury that pollutes our waterways. This is of special concern for women of childbearing age, children, and wildlife that consume mercury-contaminated fish.(2)
• More than one-third of the emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief gas contributing to global warming, which threatens forests and our tourist industry.(2)

According to the National Resources Defense Council, sulfur dioxide is the primary component of fine particles that can be inhaled deeply into the lungs, and are linked with respiratory disease and premature death in the eastern United States. Power plants emit two-thirds of U.S. sulfur dioxide pollution and are responsible for shortening the lives of an estimated 30,000 Americans each year.(3)

Nitrogen oxides are major ingredients in ozone pollution (smog). During 1999, ozone pollution levels rose above the level the EPA deems healthy more than 7,694 times in 43 states and the District of Columbia. Smog and fine particle pollution are especially damaging for the 14.9 million asthma sufferers in this country, including 5 million children. In 1997, smog triggered more than 6 million asthma attacks and sent almost 160,000 people to the emergency room in the eastern United States alone.(3)

Mercury can cause serious neurological and developmental damage, including birth defects, subtle losses of sensory or cognitive ability, and delays in developmental milestones such as walking and talking. Power plants are responsible for 34 percent of all mercury emissions, which settle into our waters, where they accumulate in fish. In 41 states, officials warn against eating fish from mercury-contaminated lakes and rivers.(3)

Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from power plants form acids in the atmosphere that fall to earth as rain, fog, snow, or dry particles. This “acid rain” is often carried hundreds of miles by the wind. Acid rain damages forests and kills fish, and can also damage buildings, historical monuments, and even cars.(3)

Power plants emit 40 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide pollution, the primary cause of global warming. Scientists say that unless global warming emissions are reduced, average U.S. temperatures could be 3 to 9 degrees higher by the end of the century – with far-reaching effects. Air pollution will worsen. Sea levels will rise, flooding coastal areas. Heat waves will be more frequent and intense. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often in some regions; heavy rains and flooding in others. Species will disappear from their historic ranges and habitats will be lost. Many of these changes have already begun.(3)

Closing Loophole Has Bipartisan Support

In the past year, proposals to substantially decrease nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and carbon dioxide have received increasing support. For example:

• Federal legislation to reduce power plant pollutants was supported by fifteen Senators and 122 Congressional Representatives, including eighteen from the Midwest.(2)
• Several states have passed, or are considering, power plant pollution reduction legislation or rules, including Texas, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Florida.(2)

Effects of Loophole Power Plants’ Smoke

Effects of Acid Rain

Acid rain causes acidification of lakes and streams, and contributes to the damage of trees at high elevations (e.g., red spruce trees above 2,000 feet) and many sensitive forest soils.(4) In addition, acid rain accelerates the decay of building materials and paints, including irreplaceable buildings, statues, and sculptures that are part of our nation’s cultural heritage.(4) Prior to falling to the earth, SO2 and NOx gases and their particulate matter derivatives, sulfates and nitrates, contribute to visibility degradation and harm public health.(4)

Effects of Climate Change

Rising global temperatures are expected to raise sea levels and change precipitation and other local climate conditions.(5) Changing regional climates could alter forests, crop yields, and water supplies, and harm birds, fish, and many types of ecosystems.(5) It could also threaten human health due to increased heat waves and the spread of infectious diseases.(5) Storms are likely to become more intense and evaporation will be faster during dry periods, so both floods and droughts would increase.(5) Deserts may expand into existing range lands, and the character of some of our national parks would be permanently altered.(5)

Effects of Mercury

Mercury is persistent, mobile, and bioaccumulative in the environment, meaning it is retained in the bodies of organisms.(6) Most of the mercury found in the environment is inorganic mercury that can enter the air from several sources, including emissions of coal-fired power plants.(6) Bacteria convert inorganic mercury into methylmercury, which is quickly taken up into higher organisms through the food chain and is retained in their bodies.(6) It reaches the highest levels in large, predatory fish and in birds and mammals that consume fish.(6) Levels of methylmercury in fish are typically 100,000 times those in the water in which they swim.(6) Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations prohibit the sale of commercial fish that are found to have high levels of methylmercury.(6) Also, state and federal authorities issue public health advisories to warn people about eating fish caught from local waters that are contaminated with mercury.(6)

Exposure to high levels of elemental mercury vapor can result in nervous system damage, including tremors, as well as mood and personality alterations.(6) Exposure to relatively high levels of inorganic mercury salts can cause kidney damage.(6) Adult exposure to relatively high levels of methylmercury through fish consumption can result in numbness or tingling in the extremities, sensory losses, and loss of coordination.(6) Exposure of the developing fetus through maternal intake of contaminated fish can result in neurologic developmental abnormalities in cognitive and motor functions.(6) Whether any of these symptoms actually occur, and the nature and severity of the symptoms, depend on the amount of exposure.(6)

Effects of Smog

Both coarse and fine particles found in smog pose health risks because they can penetrate into the sensitive regions of the respiratory tract.(7) Fine particles are of greatest concern because they are linked to the most serious effects.(7) They can cause persistent coughs, phlegm, wheezing, and physical discomfort.(7)

Several recently published community health studies indicate that significant respiratory and cardiovascular-related problems are associated with exposure to particle levels well below the existing particulate matter standards.(7) These negative effects include premature death, hospital admissions from respiratory causes, and increased respiratory symptoms.(7) Long-term exposure to particulate matter may increase the rate of respiratory and cardiovascular illness and reduce life span.(7) Children, the elderly, and individuals with cardiovascular disease or lung diseases, such as emphysema and asthma, are especially vulnerable.(7)

Additionally, smog particles can soil manmade materials, speed their deterioration, and impair visibility.(8)