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Clean Air Program Reports
Executive Summary
As the new home of RIPIRG's environmental work, Environment Rhode Island can be contacted regarding this report. Smog and soot in our air, acid rain destroying our lakes and forests, mercury contamination in our fish and global warming threatening our future—all of these are among the serious public health and environmental problems caused by pollution from the electric power sector. Due to its over-reliance on an aging fleet of uncontrolled coal-burning power plants, the U.S. electric power industry emits billions of tons of pollution each year, much of which could be eliminated through increased use of modern pollution control technologies, a shift to cleaner burning fuels, or increased investment in renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. Nearly one month ago on February 14, 2002, the Administration unveiled its long-awaited principles for reducing pollution from the electricity sector. This proposal was met by cheers from industry lobbyists and by universal dismay on the part of clean air advocates.i While President Bush dubbed his plan the “Clear Skies Initiative,” if passed into law this proposal would increase the amount of smog, soot, carbon dioxide and toxic mercury pollution that could be emitted by power plant smokestacks relative to the pollution reductions that could be achieved under the current Clean Air Act. The thrust of the Bush plan is to replace current Clean Air Act programs with national caps on electric sector emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and mercury, allowing sources to meet these obligations either by reducing emissions or by purchasing “credits” from other sources that reduce emissions more deeply than required. The President’s plan contains no mandate to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the leading cause of global warming, instead relying solely on voluntary action by the polluters. The findings in this report illustrate some of the major shortcomings of the President’s “Clear Skies Initiative.” In particular, power plant pollution data trends show that mandatory emission limits on CO2 are essential to any effort to address global warming. Moreover, the data illustrates that for sulfur and nitrogen pollution, which disproportionately impacts the health of people living near the plants, pollution caps alone will not protect the majority of communities from increasing power plant emissions. Rather, caps must work hand-in-hand with existing and new measures to ensure that every plant is meeting modern emission standards. This report analyzes six years of emissions data (1995-2000) for NOx, SO2 and CO2 from the 500 most polluting power plants in the nation, which is available from the EPA Acid Rain Database. Such data for mercury emissions does not exist. Specifically, we found that: • In the absence of mandatory CO2 emission limits, CO2 emissions are rapidly rising. • From 1995 to 2000, power plant CO2 emissions from the 500 most polluting power plants in the nation increased by 13.5 percent, a total increase in annual emissions of 277 million tons. • Texas saw a net CO2 increase from its dirty power plants of 37 million tons per year, a far bigger increase than any other state in the nation. • Twelve states, “the dirty dozen,” actually had a net CO2 emissions increase of 10 million tons per year or more between 1995 and 2000. These states are, in order of largest to smallest CO2 increases: Texas, Minnesota, Indiana, Alabama, Arizona, South Carolina, North Carolina, Illinois, Virginia, California, West Virginia and Georgia. • One power plant alone, the Sherburne County plant in Minnesota, increased its output of CO2 by a whopping 10 million tons per year, by far the biggest jump of any single plant in the nation. LESSON: A mandatory limit on carbon emissions is necessary if we are to make real progress toward stabilizing the climate. We cannot continue to rely on voluntary measures. Although the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments placed a national cap on SO2 from power plants, most plants’ emissions of sulfur dioxide continued to rise, exposing nearby communities to more fine particle “soot.” • From 1995 to 2000, over which time the national SO2 cap took effect, 300 of the dirtiest 500 power plants increased their SO2 emissions, even while the cap resulted in an overall decrease of about five percent. This means that residents of 300 local communities are being exposed to higher levels of soot from nearby facilities. • There were seven states that had a net SO2 increase of 20,000 tons or more over this six-year period. These “sooty seven” states are, from largest to smallest emission increases: North Carolina, New York, Mississippi, Georgia, Washington, South Carolina and Maryland. • One plant, the EC Gaston plant in Alabama, increased its SO2 emissions by 62,000 tons per year, a bigger jump than any other plant in the nation. This plant is just a few miles from Birmingham, Alabama, which is likely to be designated a non-attainment area for fine particle soot under the 1997 federal health standard based on data from monitoring in 1999 and 2000. • The Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR) program, when enforced, provides an important tool for ensuring that communities near these plants are protected. Of the 50 plants with highest SO2 increases during this time frame, fourteen were the subject of the U.S. EPA’s NSR enforcement initiative, including the Gaston plant described above. LESSON: Pollution caps are not designed to address localized pollution problems and therefore must work hand-in-hand with other emission control programs, such as New Source Review, which ensure that older plants eventually meet modern emission standards. Moreover, the U.S. EPA must tighten enforcement of these emission control programs. Despite national and regional NOx reduction initiatives implemented during the 1990s, more power plants increased their NOx pollution between 1995 and 2000 than decreased their pollution. This means that many communities near power plants are being exposed to higher levels of the soot and smog formed from rising NOx emissions at local plants. • 263 of the dirtiest 500 power plants increased their NOx emissions, even while collectively these 500 plants decreased their total NOx emissions by 877,000 tons per year. • There were four states that each had a net NOx emission increase of 10,000 tons per year or more. These “filthy four” states are, in order of largest to smallest net increase in NOx emissions: Arizona, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Georgia. • Three power plants increased their annual NOx emissions by more than 10,000 tons per year. These plants are the Jack Watson plant in Mississippi, the EC Gaston plant in Alabama and the Intermountain plant in Utah. Two of these plants, Jack Watson and EC Gaston, are in or adjacent to areas expected to be in non-attainment with the federal 8-hour health standard for ground-level ozone or “smog” based on monitoring data from 1998-2000. • The Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR) program, when enforced, provides an important tool for ensuring that communities near these plants are protected. Of the 50 plants with the highest NOx increases between 1995 and 2000, eight were the subject of the U.S. EPA’s NSR enforcement initiative, including the Jack Watson and EC Gaston plants. LESSON: Without better enforcement of the Clean Air Act’s existing programs, the status quo will allow NOx emissions to increase, exposing more communities located near power plants to smog and soot. A national NOx cap alone will not protect the health of these communities. Rather, a national NOx cap should be accompanied by policies to ensure that every plant installs modern pollution control equipment. The President’s proposal stands in sharp contrast to the leading Congressional proposals to address power plant pollution. Key differences between the Congressional approaches and the Administration’s proposal include: • The Clean Power Act (S. 556) and the Clean Smokestacks Act (H.R. 1256) would establish caps for NOx and SO2 that work with important existing clean air programs rather than eliminating Clean Air Act programs, including New Source Review, as proposed by the Bush administration. • S. 556 and H.R. 1256 call for plant-specific controls for NOx, SO2 and mercury to ensure that nearby plants do not threaten human health and to prevent toxic “hotspots” from developing. • The caps and plant-specific controls under S. 556 and H.R. 1256 are far more stringent and would take effect more than a decade earlier than would the pollution reductions envisioned in the Bush plan. • S. 556 and H.R. 1256 establish a mandatory cap for carbon dioxide at 1990 emission levels. This report’s findings, as detailed above, illustrate the importance of maintaining these aspects of both bills. * See Appendix 1 for statements by clean air advocates and opinion leaders.
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