SERC Talking Points on the Clean Power Act

The State Clean Power Act... 

• Requires all power plants to meet modern emission standards by enforcing statewide caps on carbon dioxide (CO2), sulpfhur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and mercury emissions in the electric power industry.
• Enacts regulations to achieve a 75% reduction in emissions of both SO2 and NOx by 2007. 
• Establishes a cap at 1990 levels of carbon dioxide emissions by 2007.
• Enacts regulations to achieve a 90% reduction in mercury emissions by 2007.
• Directs the department to make a plan to eliminate the threat of mercury in the environment.

Electric Power Plants Are the Nation’s #1 Air Polluter 

• Most Americans think of electricity as a “clean” energy and are shocked to learn that power plants are the single worst industrial contributor of air pollution in the U.S. Nationally, they contribute 76% of the sulfur dioxide emissions, 59% of nitrogen oxide emissions, 37% of mercury emissions and 40% of man-made carbon dioxide emissions. (Natural Resources Defense Council)

Power Plants Owe This Dubious Distinction, in Large Part, to a “Loophole” 

• When the Clean Air Act was enacted over 30 years ago during the Nixon Administration, big utility companies successfully lobbied against stringent controls by saying the oldest, dirtiest power plants would soon be replaced by new state-of-the-art facilities. Many of those out-dated facilities -- which were already old in 1970 -- are still in use. 
• In some cases, power plants from 1922 are still in operation and do not meet the environmental requirements that every new facility must follow. 
• These power plants pollute up to 10 times more than newer plants.

Closing This Loophole Is a Matter of Life and Death

Nearly 19,000 premature deaths could be avoided if the dirty “loophole” power plants were made to conform with modern clean air laws.

Closing This Loophole Would Reduce Asthma Attacks

Pollutants from grand-fathered power plants blow from state-to-state, provoking asthma attacks in our major cities. Experts estimate 603,000 asthma attacks nationwide could be avoided if the dirty “loophole” power plants were made to conform with modern clean air laws.

Closing This Loophole Would Decrease Mercury Poisoning 

• Mercury is deposited in the water and accumulates in fish. This causes poisoning of humans and wildlife that eat those fish. 
• At high levels, mercury can cause serious damage to the nervous system and is especially harmful to pregnant women and children. 
• Eagles, osprey, common loons, river otters, mink, and other fish-eating animals may suffer premature death, weight loss, difficulties reproducing, and other problems as a result of eating mercury-contaminated fish. 
• This act would cut mercury polluting by 90%.

Closing This Loophole Would Reduce Acid Rain 

• Sulfur dioxide is the chief cause of acid rain. 
• Acid rain causes acidification of lakes and streams and contributes to damage of trees at high elevations and many sensitive forest soils. In addition, acid rain accelerates the decay of building materials and paints, including irreplaceable buildings, statues, and sculptures that are part of our nation’s cultural heritage. 
• Under this act, sulfur dioxide emissions would be reduced by 75 %.

Closing This Loophole Would Rein in Global Warming   

• Carbon dioxide continues to accumulate in the atmosphere and leads to changes in our global climate. 
• Rising global temperatures are expected to raise sea levels, and change precipitation and other local climate conditions. Changing regional climate could alter forests, crop yields, and water supplies. 
• This Act would reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels, as called for in the 1992 Rio Climate Treaty that the United States has ratified.

Closing This Loophole Would Literally Clear the Air 

• Nitrogen oxides are the chief cause of ozone smog. In some cases, a single outdated power plant is emitting as much NOx pollution as an entire state. 
• Every year millions of Americans visit our national parks, and increasingly are complaining about what they see, or rather, by what they don’t see. 
• This act would cut NOx emissions by 75%.

Closing This Loophole Will Lead to Increased Efficiency and Consumer Savings 

• Loophole power plants waste two-thirds of the energy in the fuel. Replacement of outdated equipment with modern power plants can nearly double fuel efficiency and dramatically reduce air pollution. 
• Just as new cars, furnaces, refrigerators, and all of other power-consuming devices operate much more efficiently than those built 50 years ago, power plants that modernize will dramatically increase their efficiency and, over time, pass that savings onto consumers. 
• More efficient energy use and increased reliance on renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, will contribute to achieving the emission reductions required by the Clean Power Act. These measures lower consumers’ energy bills while they help to reduce emissions, as documented by the “Clean Energy Future” study conducted by five national laboratories of the Department of Energy.

Closing This Loophole Makes Good Economic Sense 

• Protecting our high quality-of-life environment by reducing air pollutant emissions returns substantial economic benefit to us through avoided health-care costs. 
• Our state enjoys greater tourism resulting from healthier lakes and improved vistas. We’ll have more visits by fishermen, hunters, and wildlife viewers to wildlife ecosystems. We’ll see a more productive forest and agricultural sector. 
• Implementing a four-pollutant emission-reduction program will avoid added costs to industry and consumers by allowing companies to meet comprehensive regulations less expensively than by installing piecemeal pollution controls.

Closing This Loophole Will Make Power More Reliable 

• Although some try to argue that modernizing power plants will somehow make electricity unreliable, the truth is that modern plants are less likely to break down than the old loophole-protected power plants. In fact, cutbacks in efforts to modernize power plants and expand renewable energy capacity directly contributed to power shortfalls recently experienced in California. 
• Power plant operators are capable of scheduling needed retrofits in a coordinated way so as not to cause reliability problems. With sufficient notice and lead time, they can meet the new requirements without affecting reliability.

The State Environmental Resource Center  mapped out the high road on eliminating dirty coal burning power plants, and we'd like to thank them for being environmental trailblazers on the high road. 

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