Report Links Power Plant Emissions to 38,000 Heart Attacks Each Year
A report by Clear the Air entitled “Dirty Air, Dirty Power” documents, for the first time, how many heart attacks and lung cancer deaths are caused each year by coal-fired power plants.
Nationally, power plant pollution cuts short nearly 24,000 lives, including 2,800 from lung cancer, and causes 38,200 heart attacks each year, the report found, based on an analysis by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s own air quality consultants using standard EPA methodology.
The report compares the premature deaths that would result under the Bush administration’s air pollution plan, the existing Clean Air Act, and a proposal sponsored by Senator Jim Jeffords to strengthen the Clean Air Act. The Administration’s proposal would allow 4,000 preventable premature deaths each year compared with simply enforcing current law, while repealing the very safeguards that could save those lives.
Clear the Air [www.cleartheair.org] also launched a related interactive Web site that enables the public to learn about the health problems caused by power plants in their town, city, and state. To access the website click here.
The report’s Web site graphically shows how local power plants contribute to death and disease, including premature deaths from lung cancer and other cardiovascular diseases, non-fatal heart attacks, asthma attacks, emergency room visits for respiratory problems, and lost work days.
