http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/particulate-matter-pollution-from-maryland-power-plants Particulate matter from power plants is a serious health threat. http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/particulate-matter-pollution-from-maryland-power-plants Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:49:51 -0500 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/new-coal-in-georgia-a-pollutant-summary The New Jersey based http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/new-coal-in-georgia-a-pollutant-summary Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:49:51 -0500 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/hot-and-smoggy-the-ozone-hot-weather-connection-in-eight-california-cities Despite years of progress in cleaning up California’s air, millions of Californians continue to breathe the dirtiest air in the nation. In fact, the Golden State is home to eight of the 10 most ozone-polluted counties in the United States. Unfortunately, scientists predict that rising temperatures from global warming will increase conditions conducive to ozone formation (often called “smog”). This report examines the correlation between higher temperatures and ozone pollution at eight locations in California, and concludes that, in order to protect the health of Californians, policy-makers must take aggressive steps to reduce pollution that leads to smog, while also continuing to lead national and international efforts to tackle global warming. Ground-level ozone, the primary component of smog, is a severe respiratory irritant that can aggravate asthma and cause other respiratory problems, including permanent lung damage. Using temperature and air quality data from the California Air Resources Board, this report found that the warmer the weather the more likely that Californians are breathing dirty air. Key findings include the following: In Bakersfield, ozone levels exceeded the state 8-hr health standard 91 percent of the days that the daily maximum temperature was 100°F or more. Ozone levels exceeded the state 1-hr health standard 58 percent of those days. In Burbank, ozone levels exceeded the state 8-hr health standard 42 percent of the days that the daily maximum temperature was 100°F or more. Ozone levels exceeded the state 1-hr health standard 41 percent of those days. In Folsom, ozone levels exceeded the state 8-hr health standard 83 percent of the days that the daily maximum temperature was 100°F or more. Ozone levels exceeded the state 1-hr health standard 58 percent of those days. In Fresno, ozone levels exceeded the state 8-hr health standard 84 percent of the days that the daily maximum temperature was 100°F or more. Ozone levels exceeded the state 1-hr health standard 75 percent of those days. In Riverside, ozone levels exceeded the state 8-hr health standard 79 percent of the days that the daily maximum temperature was 100°F or more. Ozone levels exceeded the state 1-hr health standard 69 percent of those days. In San Bernardino, ozone levels exceeded the state 8-hr health standard 75 percent of the days that the daily maximum temperature was 100°F or more. Ozone levels exceeded the state 1-hr health standard 67 percent of those days. In San Diego, ozone levels exceeded the state 8-hr health standard 16 percent of the days that the daily maximum temperature was 90°F or more. Ozone levels exceeded the state 1-hr health standard 15 percent of those days. In Sequoia National Park, ozone levels exceeded the state 8-hr health standard 75 percent of the days that the daily maximum temperature was 80°F or more. Ozone levels exceeded the state 1-hr health standard 59 percent of those days. Unfortunately, with worldwide emissions of global warming pollution increasing each year, temperatures are expected to rise in the coming decades. Scientists predict that higher temperatures from global warming will lead to higher levels of ozone pollution in California by increasing emissions of ozone-forming pollutants and accelerating chemical processes that generate ozone. Given California’s existing air pollution problems and the expectation that global warming will increase ozone formation that leads to smog, state policy-makers and environmental agencies should work to significantly reduce ozone-forming pollutants while simultaneously reducing global warming emissions to levels that scientists have concluded are necessary to prevent a dramatic increase in temperature. To reduce smog pollution state policy-makers and agencies should prioritize a variety of policy measures, including measures outlined in California’s State Implementation Plan for federal ambient air quality standards. Measures to prioritize include: Passenger vehicles – Increase the sale and use of zero-emission and low-polluting passenger cars and light-duty trucks, accelerate vehicle retirement, and strengthen the state smog check program; trucks and off-road equipment – Reduce emissions from medium- and heavy-duty diesel trucks and off-road equipment by strengthening emissions standards, increasing Ports & goods movement – Require cleaner marine engines and fuels, increase the number of ships with the ability to use shore-side power (“cold ironing”), increase retrofits, and accelerate the introduction of cleaner port trucks, harbor craft and locomotives; Agriculture – Accelerate the replacement of agricultural equipment through regulation and incentives; and Strong enforcement of existing pollution control rules– Enforce tough standards for cleaner construction equipment, airport ground support, and other off-road vehicles. To reduce global warming emissions state policy-makers and agencies should prioritize successful implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Assembly Bill 32), which commits California to reducing global warming emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/hot-and-smoggy-the-ozone-hot-weather-connection-in-eight-california-cities Tue, 13 Nov 2007 11:54:17 -0600 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/plagued-by-pollution-unsafe-levels-of-soot-pollution-in-2004 Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG's environmental work. While air quality has improved in the http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/plagued-by-pollution-unsafe-levels-of-soot-pollution-in-2004 Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:12:19 -0500 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/made-in-the-u_s_a_-power-plants-and-mercury-pollution-across-the-country Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG's environmental work. Power http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/made-in-the-u_s_a_-power-plants-and-mercury-pollution-across-the-country Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:12:46 -0500 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/power-to-protect-the-critical-role-states-play-in-cleaning-up-pollution-from-mobile-sources Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG's environmental work. Despite http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/power-to-protect-the-critical-role-states-play-in-cleaning-up-pollution-from-mobile-sources Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:13:32 -0500 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/the-fine-print-how-a-loophole-in-the-clear-skies-bill-lets-power-plants-off-the-hook-for-their-mercury-emissions Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG's environmental work. Power plants are the largest http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/the-fine-print-how-a-loophole-in-the-clear-skies-bill-lets-power-plants-off-the-hook-for-their-mercury-emissions Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:14:04 -0500 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/pollution-on-the-rise-local-trends-in-power-plant-pollution Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG's environmental work. Power plants are the nation’s http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/pollution-on-the-rise-local-trends-in-power-plant-pollution Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:14:30 -0500 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/fishing-for-trouble-how-toxic-mercury-contaminates-fish-in-u_s_-waterways Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG's environmental work. Toxic http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/fishing-for-trouble-how-toxic-mercury-contaminates-fish-in-u_s_-waterways Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:15:05 -0500 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/danger-in-the-air-unhealthy-levels-of-air-pollution-in-2003 Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG's environmental work. http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/danger-in-the-air-unhealthy-levels-of-air-pollution-in-2003 Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:15:46 -0500 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/reel-danger-power-plant-mercury-pollution-and-the-fish-we-eat Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG's environmental work. Mercury emissions from coal-fired http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/reel-danger-power-plant-mercury-pollution-and-the-fish-we-eat Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:16:14 -0500 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/dirty-air-dirty-power---mortality-and-health-damage-due-to-air-pollution-from-power-plants Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG's environmental work. Asthma attacks, respiratory disease, heart attacks, and premature deaths—all of these are among the serious public health problems caused by air pollution from the electric power sector. In 2000, the Clean Air Task Force, on behalf of the Clear the Air campaign, commissioned Abt Associates to quantify the health impacts of fine particle air pollution from power plants. This study found that tens of thousands of people die prematurely every year and hundreds of thousands more suffer asthma attacks as a result of power plant pollution alone. With new research linking lung cancer deaths and heart attacks to power plant pollution, Clear the Air commissioned Abt Associates to update its 2000 study to reflect this new science and examine different policies being debated at the federal level to clean up power plants. This report summarizes the findings of the Abt Associates study, reviews the contribution of power plants to particle pollution, and compares the relative benefits of the chief policy proposals to reduce power plant fine particle pollution. Key findings include: • Fine particle pollution from U.S. power plants cuts short the lives of nearly 24,000 people each year, including 2800 from lung cancer. • The average number of life-years lost by individuals dying prematurely from exposure to particulate matter is 14 years. • Hundreds of thousands of Americans suffer each year from asthma attacks, cardiac problems, and respiratory problems associated with fine particles from power plants. These illnesses result in tens of thousands of emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and lost work days each year. • Power plant pollution is responsible for 38,200 non-fatal heart attacks per year. • The elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease are most severely affected by fine particle pollution from power plants. • People who live in metropolitan areas near coal-fired plants feel their impacts most acutely – their attributable death rates are much higher than areas with few or no coal-fired plants. The vast majority (at least 90 percent or 22,000) of the deaths due to fine particle pollution could be avoided by capping power plant sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution at levels consistent with the installation of today’s best available emissions controls. Compared with the requirements of current law, the Bush Administration’s so-called “Clear Skies” proposal would result in 4,000 additional preventable premature deaths each year while repealing the very safeguards that could save those additional lives. Recommendations For more than thirty years, the oldest, dirtiest coal-burning power plants have circumvented air emissions standards required of modern power plants. As a result, these “grandfathered” power plants are permitted to emit more than 10 times more nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide than modern coal plants. The Bush administration’s administrative rollbacks of New Source Review and the statutory rollbacks embodied in its proposed legislation would continue this lethal legacy. Polluting coal-fired plants must be made to comply with modern emission control standards. In addition, the nation’s power fleet should be held to stringent caps on all four key power plant pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and carbon dioxide. Requirements such as these can ensure that U.S. energy policy better accounts for the public health and environmental costs associated with electricity production and will propel us toward a more sustainable energy future. http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/dirty-air-dirty-power---mortality-and-health-damage-due-to-air-pollution-from-power-plants Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:16:40 -0500 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/paying-to-pollute-campaign-contributions-and-lobbying-expenditures-by-polluters-working-to-weaken-environmental-laws Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG's environmental work. Electric utilities, oil http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/paying-to-pollute-campaign-contributions-and-lobbying-expenditures-by-polluters-working-to-weaken-environmental-laws Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:17:09 -0500 http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/more-highways-more-pollution-road-building-and-air-pollution-in-america39s-cities Environment America is the new home of U.S. PIRG's environmental work. Building new highways will http://www.environmentamerica.org/home/reports/report-archives/clean-air/clean-air/more-highways-more-pollution-road-building-and-air-pollution-in-america39s-cities Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:17:40 -0500