Pollution caused by coal-burning power plants causes 24,000 premature deaths in the U.S. each year, according to a new analysis of government data released Wednesday. And while the Bush administration's Clear Skies proposal will help alleviate that problem, it will save fewer lives than any other plan under consideration – including simply retaining the laws already on the books, the analysis found.
"The Bush administration is pretending their initiative would be progress, but our report shows that just carrying out the laws on the book saves 4,000 more lives than Clear Skies," said Angela Ledford, Director of Clear the Air, which released the report during a telephone press conference yesterday.
Dirty Air, Dirty Power: Mortality and Health Damage Due to Air Pollution from Power Plants reveals for the first time how many heart attacks and lung cancer deaths are caused by power plant pollution. It compares the projected live-saving effectiveness of current pollution control laws with several plans now before Congress.
According to the report, fine particle pollution from power plants shortens the lives of 24,000 Americans each year, including 2,800 from lung cancer. Those lives are shortened by an average of 14 years, the data showed.
Power-plant pollution is also responsible for 38,200 non-fatal heart attacks each year, according to the analysis, which used the same EPA data and methodology employed to develop the administration's Clear Skies plan. The report also found that 90 percent of deaths due to fine particle pollution could be avoided using currently available technology.
"We can eliminate the risk of premature death from power plant pollution if we have the political will to do so," said Conrad Schneider, senior policy advisor for Clear the Air.
According to the report, a bill sponsored by Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT) would do the most to clean up air pollution caused by coal-fired power plants. The Jeffords bill would save 8,000 more lives per year than the Bush administration's so-called Clear Skies proposal.
Ledford pointed out that President Bush, prior to his election, promised to clean up power plant pollution. Instead, almost immediately after being sworn in, he reneged on a promise to require mandatory reductions in carbon dioxide.
The Bush administration has also delayed the deadlines for reducing ozone smog; delayed deadlines for removing fine particles from the air; delayed action to reduce haze in national parks; and delayed by more than 10 years reductions in toxic mercury emissions from power plants, the report found.
Details regarding how Clear Skies and competing plans in Congress stack up against current law – as well as state-by-state health impacts from coal-fired power plants – can be found in the report and on Clear the Air's interactive web site at www.cleartheair.org.
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