Strong Power Plant Rule Would Prevent 3,000 Premature Deaths

RALEIGH, North Carolina, August 19, 2004 (ENS) – The Bush administration's proposal to cut power plant emissions of air pollutants that contribute to smog and soot pollution does not go far enough to protect public health, according to a study by the advocacy organization Environmental Defense.

The study focuses on the Bush plan to employ a cap and trade system to cut sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from power plants, which are responsible for 68 percent of the nation's SO2 emissions and 22 percent of NOx emissions.

Slated to take effect in 2005, the proposal would cut annual emissions of SO2, a leading cause of acid rain, from 10 million tons to 3.2 million tons by 2015.

A stronger rule would prevent an additional 3,000 premature deaths and 140,000 fewer childhood asthma cases, the organization says, and could be imposed without unfair economic cost to the power plant industry.

The current pollution reductions included in the proposal are important, but "fall far short of protecting public health and the environment, and are far less than what can be cost-effectively achieved," said Michael Shore, senior air policy analyst for Environmental Defense and coauthor of the report.

Harmful emissions from power plants can affect air quality hundreds of miles away. (Photo courtesy DOE)

The rule would apply to 29 eastern and Midwestern states, as well as to the District of Columbia - these areas all suffer from coal fired power plant emissions.

The proposal would result in the deepest cuts in SO2 and NOx emissions from power plans in more than a decade, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Leavitt, who says the plan "will help states and cities across the nation achieve national health based air quality standards."

The EPA estimates the rule would prevent 13,000 premature deaths and some 860,000 childhood asthma cases, and would cost the industry some $48 billion to implement.

Environmental Defense says the proposal is an important step forward, but contends the health risks from the soot and smog pollution merit stronger action.

"According to EPA's own analysis, millions of Americans in Heartland cities - including Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Knoxville, Atlanta and Birmingham - will be left breathing unhealthy air if the agency's proposed limits are implemented," Shore said. "More protective power plant cleanup standards are needed to lower harmful particulate and ozone pollution levels in these communities."

The study finds the additional health benefits could be achieved by cutting the SO2 cap to between 1.6 to two million tons and the NOx cap down to one million tons.

This Boston child has asthma, a respiratory condition made worse by breathing smoggy air. (Photo courtesy Boston Public School System)

The power plant industry's cost of reducing a ton of SO2 under the current proposal is $1,000, according to the report, compared to regulations that impose more than $10,000 a ton for the paper and pulp industry.

Environmental Defense's recommendations would raise the cost threshold for the industry to $1,500 - the human health benefits of lowering SO2 from power plants are valued at $15,000 per ton.

"The EPA's own estimates show that public health and other benefits would outweigh the cost by a 20 to one ratio," said Mark MacLeod, Environmental Defense special projects director. "We could all breathe easier if EPA strengthens these proposed power plant pollution standards."

The full report can be found here.