Clean Air Now!

Working to clean up power plants and reduce pollution from automobiles.
NEW! Clean Air Victory In The Supreme Court.

Air pollution is causing a public health crisis in the U.S. Each year, smog and soot cause millions of asthma attacks, and even cause the premature death of tens of thousands of Americans. Children, senior citizens and people with asthma are most at risk. Electric power plants emit more of the pollution that causes smog and soot formation than any other industry. Moreover, these same plants are the largest source of the pollutants that cause mercury contamination in our food chain, acid rain, haze in the national parks and global warming.

Smog-forming Nitrogen Oxide: The American Lung Association estimates that more than 135 million Americans live in areas where the air quality poses health threats due to smog. In 1999, a scientific study found that smog triggered more than 6 million asthma attacks in a single year.

Sulfur Dioxide or Soot: Health studies show that fine particle pollution or ÒsootÓ is taking years off our lives. One recent study estimated that soot from power plants alone was responsible for shortening the lives of 28,000 Americans annually.

Mercury Pollution: Health officials in 40 states have issued warnings not to eat too much fish, due to mercury contamination. The National Academy of Sciences estimates that 60,000 U.S. children are born each year with a risk of nervous system damage from mercury exposure in the womb.

Greenhouse Gas Carbon Dioxide: Recent studies show that carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels are causing a global rise in temperature. Scientists predict that higher global temperatures will bring about catastrophic changes, including sea level rise, spread of tropical disease such as malaria and reduced agricultural production.

We must act expeditiously to reduce all four of the harmful pollutants from dirty power plants across the nation. Specifically, we are supporting policies that would:

1. Require all power plants to meet modern pollution standards for smog-forming nitrogen oxides, and reduce the national emission total by 75 percent by 2007;

2. Require all power plants to meet modern pollution standards for sulfur dioxide, and reduce the national emission total by 75 percent by 2007;

3. Require all plants to reduce mercury emissions by 90 percent by 2007;

4. Require the nationwide emissions of carbon dioxide from power plants to be reduced to levels emitted in 1990, as required by the first international treaty on climate change, signed by President George Bush in 1992.

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