Power Plants, Pollution and Soot

How to Halt the Increasing Threat to Clean, Healthy Air

Nearly everyone has seen a factory's smokestack billowing out black sooty smoke that dirties the air and blackens buildings. Power plant smokestacks are a significant source of dangerous pollutants, including nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and sooty particles that cause unhealthy ozone and particulate pollution in communities across the nation. 

Solutions

One of the main prongs of our initiative to restore healthy air is to reduce pollution by 80% over the next 10 years. In 2005, EPA finalized the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), which will clean up the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants that cause soot and smog pollution in the Eastern half of the country (where most coal-fired power plants are located).

EPA should also expand a clean smokestack initiative nationwide so that millions of American families in the West are not left behind.  Existing, proven technology can scrub and chemically remove the smog and particulate-forming pollutants from power plant smokestacks by 90% or more.

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Power Plants

Since the Clean Air Act was adopted in 1970, our nation has made great strides in reducing many harmful pollutants from our air, such as sulfur dioxide. But levels of nitrogen oxides (or NOx) have actually increased by 20 percent over the last 30 years. Sources of NOx include passenger vehicles, industrial facilities, construction equipment and railroads, but of the 25 million tons of NOx discharged annually in the U.S., 21 percent of that amount is generated by power plants alone. Yet efforts to regulate power plant emissions of NOx year-round have stalled, resulting in a rising threat to the health of citizens.

Why Is NOx a Threat?

Nitrogen oxides play a major role in the formation of ground-level ozone (or smog) in the summertime. Smog triggers millions of asthma attacks each year in the U.S., and worsens or causes other respiratory ailments. NOx also contributes to fine particulate matter (or soot), which is linked to a number of serious health effects, including premature deaths. This pollutant also contributes to acid rain, reduced visibility in urban areas and national parks, and the deterioration of coastal estuaries, harming fish and degrading water quality.

Why States Need to Exercise Their Right to Clean Air Year-Round

Recognizing the role of NOx emissions in the formation of ozone, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken the important step of creating a mandatory NOx reduction program for smog-plagued Eastern states. Under this federal program, power plants are required to cut their emissions significantly during the summer ozone season. However, this summer-only solution is woefully inadequate, for NOx pollution is a health and environmental problem every season of the year. A handful of states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Texas and New York) have taken the lead to cut NOx emissions year-round.

States can no longer afford to wait for the federal government to protect its citizens from the dangers of NOx pollution. Moreover, the economic benefits of year-round NOx reductions far outweigh the costs. If utilities were required to cut NOx pollution year-round, dramatic health benefits would result and Eastern states would realize more than $1 billion in health benefits - almost double the cost of controlling these emissions.

Posted: 09-Jan-2006; Updated: 09-Aug-2007