News Release

This report was released in July, 1999

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For Immediate Release:
Contact: EWG Public Affairs, (202) 667-6982
U.S.PIRG, (202) 546-9707

NEW REPORT SHOWS COAL USE UP DRAMATICALLY

Resulting Smog Pollution Equal to That of 37 Million Cars

WASHINGTON - As the nation grapples with growing smog and global warming problems, a new report released today documents a sharp rise in coal consumption for most of this decade.

Both smog and global warming can be significantly blamed on coal use, but the report shows the nation's coal usage is up almost 16 percent, annually producing smog equal to that from 37 million cars and global warming pollution equal to that from 44 million cars.

Twenty years ago, many of the nation's utilities lobbied Congress to have their oldest, dirtiest plants exempt from key Clean Air Act standards on the premise that these facilities would soon be closed. Most never were, and the utilities' lobbyists have worked fiercely for decades to keep the exemptions. When Congress deregulated wholesale electricity sales in 1992, these old plants became even more profitable because they were competing with more recently built plants that were required to install pollution control equipment.

The report, "Up in Smoke" was written by Environmental Working Group (EWG) and U.S. Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG). It is the first-ever study to track the use of coal plants since the 1992 Energy Policy Act -- and calculate the resulting smog and global warming pollution.

"Switching from coal to cleaner fuels such as natural gas and renewable energy is the way to solve our smog and global warming problems. Instead, utilities and their lobbyists are taking us in the opposite direction. Thanks to them, our air pollution control efforts are going up in smoke," said EWG analyst John Coequyt.

The report looked at federal data on 446 power plants across the nation. Among the major findings of the report are:

• Electric power generation from coal-burning plants increased by an amount equal to that of the annual power use of the entire state of California.
• The increased smog pollution from Illinois, West Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana and Georgia each equaled that from two million cars.
• The pollution from increased [coal] generation in Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Georgia, West Virginia and Kentucky all exceeded the global warming pollution from 2.5 million cars.
• By increasing coal generation, eight large utility companies, American Electric Power Company, Cinergy Corporation, Dominion Resources Inc, Duke Power Company, Edison International, The Southern Company, Tennessee Valley Authority and Associated Electric Coop each emitted as much smog pollution as that from one million cars.

"This summer, tens of thousands of Americans will go to emergency rooms due to smog," said Rebecca Stanfield, Clean Air Advocate for U.S. PIRG. "It's time for Congress to protect public health by closing the loopholes allowing old coal plants to pollute our air."

The two groups called on Congress to end the pollution exemption for old, dirty power plants; require uniform pollution standards for all plants; and, establish caps on power plant pollution that will meet or exceed all of the U.S. international treaty obligations and protect public health.

Note -- Tables 1 and Table 5 identify states and companies, respectively, responsible for greatest increases in usage of coal-burning power plants. The entire report as well as data for individual states are available on the web at www.ewg.org.

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