"We have asked them to monitor some chemicals, including arsenic, and if levels grow too high, we may intervene."
-- Ron Schwartz, a Pennsylvania environmental official on efforts to regulate coal plant pollution.
In this issue:
1) Tune In: Protect Wildlife from Global Warming
2) Take Action: Don't Let Coal Pollute our National Parks!
3) New Report: Clean Energy Beats Coal in Appalachia
4) Water Pollution: Coal Culprit
1) Take Action: Protect Wildlife from Global Warming
With the introduction of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, the Senate has an historic opportunity to revive rural economies while protecting our wildlife heritage.
In order to protect our communities and the $120 billion economy that depends on healthy fish and wildlife, global warming legislation must dedicate funding for long-term, multi-year efforts to safeguard America's natural resources from the impacts of a changing climate.
Tell your Senator that dedicated funding is a must for enhancing the resiliency and sustainability of critical natural resources.
2) Take Action: Don’t Let Coal Pollute our National Parks!
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is deciding how to curb pollution from two dirty coal plants: the Navajo Generating Station and the Four Corners Power Plant. In addition to mercury and soot, these two plants are among the largest emitters of haze-forming pollution that affects some of the nation's greatest National Parks, including the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon and Mesa Verde.
It's time for the EPA to bring this toxic legacy to an end and for the Southwest to move beyond coal to clean energy and the jobs it will bring.
Tell EPA to stop dirty coal plants from polluting our National Parks.
3) New Report: Clean Energy Beats Coal in Appalachia
A groundbreaking new report released today by the Sierra Club reaffirms the economic benefits of ending mountaintop removal coal mining and transitioning to clean energy sources in Appalachia.
Rather than being an economic boon for Appalachia as claimed by the coal industry, mountaintop removal mining actually costs state budgets more than it generates, according to the new report conducted by Synapse Energy Economics, Inc.
Read more from this and other recent mountaintop removal coal mining studies.
4) Water Pollution: Coal Culprit
A new investigation by the New York Times highlights the extent of pollution problems posed by coal plants across the U.S., and they aren’t just affecting our air. After being pulled out of the air by scrubbers the toxic pollution that comes from burning coal, including arsenic and metals like lead, is being dumped into waterways.
This pollution poses serious health risks, yet an amazing 90 percent of coal plants that have violated the Clean Water Act since 2004 have gotten away with it -- no sanctions, no fines.