Impacts of Power Plant Pollution
Power plants are a major source of the pollution causing ozone-smog, particulate matter (soot), acid rain, mercury poisoning and global warming.
ozone-smog
can be attributed to over 510,000 asthma attacks and over 12,300 emergency room visits in New York State, during the summer of 1997.
Fine particles, or soot, from power plants cause an estimated 1,800 New York State residents and 30,000 people nationwide to die prematurely each year.
acid rain has made the Adirondacks and Catskills the most ecologically sensitive regions in the nation with 25% of the Adirondack lakes surveyed not supporting any fish.
Mercury has poisoned certain fish populations in 34, out of the approximately 200, bodies of water tested in New York, making them unsafe to eat. Mercury is a heavy metal that passes through the placenta and in breast milk attacking the central nervous system, affecting a child's ability to walk, talk and learn.
Global
warming is expected to cause a three-foot sea level rise along
the coast of Long Island, New York City and the Hudson Valley up to
Albany, and up to a 40% decrease in the state's agricultural yield
by 2100.
New York should require power plants to reduce nitrogen oxides and
sulfur dioxide emissions by 75%, cut mercury emissions by 90%, and cap carbon dioxide emissions at at least 7% below 1990 levels by 2007, and then pressure the federal government to follow suit.
In October 1999, Governor Pataki announced instate emissions reduction for nitrogen oxides
and sulfur dioxide, but no regulations have been finalized.
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Background 
Impacts of Power Plant Pollution Efficiency and Conservation
Renewable Energy
Building New Power Plants Green Electricity
Federal Energy Issues Clean Air Enforcement Project support NYPIRG
