Pollution from power plants--which routinely exceeds federal standards in some areas and would continue at unhealthy levels under President Bush's "Clear Skies" initiativ--causes disproportionate health problems for Latin American families, according to a new report by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and Clear the Air, a coalition of environmental groups.
Air of Injustice: How Power Plant Pollution Affects the Health of Hispanics and Latinos, summarizes the health impacts of air pollution upon Latin American communities in the U.S. The report states that 7 out of 10 Hispanic Americans breathe air that violates federal pollution standards. It points to power plants as a major culprit. As a result, Hispanic children are 2.5 times more likely to develop asthma than non-Latino white children, the report found. [1]
The report comes as the Bush administration weighs proposed air pollution standards for power plant smokestacks. A separate report from Clear the Air, Danger in the Air: Unhealthy Levels of Air Pollution in 2003, was released last week. It found evidence of "massive air pollution problems across the U.S.," especially from dangerous levels of fine particle soot and smog. According to the report, soot-forming sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants increased by 4 percent from 2002 to 2003. [2]
The Bush administration's "Clear Skies" initiative would do less to curb pollution from coal-burning power plants than any other proposal--including simply following the laws that are already on the books--according to an analysis released earlier this year by Clear the Air. The analysis noted that fine particle pollution from power plants shortens the lives of 24,000 Americans each year by an average of 14 years (including 2,800 from lung cancer). [3]
Prior to taking office, President Bush promised to clean up power plant pollution. But after being sworn in, he reneged on his promise to require mandatory reductions in carbon dioxide; 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 LULAC report showed that Hispanic American families face a disproportionate risk of breathing bad air. In 2002, the report found, 71 percent of Hispanics lived in counties that violated federal health standards for ozone or particulate pollution. In contrast, 55 percent of the overall population lives in counties with poor air quality. [4]
"The Latino community suffers from the health threats associated with air pollution at epidemic proportions," said Angela Ledford, director of Clear the Air, in a press release. "All Americans deserve stronger safeguards to reduce pollution. But the tens of millions of Hispanic Americans who breathe dirty air are among those with...the most to lose if we continue doing nothing." [5]
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SOURCES:
[1] LULAC press release, Jul. 8, 2004.
[2] Clear the Air press release, Sept. 23, 2004.
[3] BushGreenwatch, Jun. 10, 2004.
[4] LULAC website.
[5] Ibid.
