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Guest Commentary July 6, 2002
Reduce Powerplant Emissions
The Honorable Jim Jeffords
Over the last few months, we have listened carefully to the administration about their efforts to conduct this war both home and abroad. We can prevent the loss of life in the future, they say, by investing in homeland security and the war on terrorism, and I do not disagree with these efforts.
But if homeland security is about protecting our citizens from harm and even death, I have a suggestion for this administration that they may not like to hear. I hope they are listening.
It has to do with public health. It will not cost the Federal Treasury a penny. It will save thousands of lives. It will reduce hospital visits. It will save consumers money.
What is my grand idea?
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Well, it is not new. And it is something we can do today with long lasting results for every man, woman, and child in this Nation. Here it is. It is simple. Reduce powerplant emissions. Let me repeat that: Reduce powerplant emissions.
Studies show that 30,000 Americans die every year due to powerplant pollution -- 30,000 deaths from powerplant pollution alone. Incredible. Let me work slow through a list of real, but depressing, statistics on powerplant pollution.
Powerplant pollution results in 20,000 hospitalizations each year, 600,000 asthma attacks, 5 million days of lost work due to pollution-related illness, and 18,000 cases of bronchitis. Powerplant pollution has resulted in mercury advisories in 44 of the 50 States. In these 44 States, our citizens are asked not to eat the fish caught in the lakes and streams. Because of powerplant pollution, 6 million American women and children are exposed to mercury levels well above those considered safe by Federal health authorities.
According to the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 percent of women in the United States have mercury levels above those considered protective of newborns. As a result, as many as 390,000 children are born each year at risk for neurological development problems due to exposure to mercury in the womb.
The March issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that millions of people who live in areas polluted by fine particles have about the same increased risk of dying from heart or lung disease or lung cancer as people who live with a cigarette smoker. Here is the problem. You can ask a smoker to go outside or to quit, but you cannot kick a dirty powerplant out of your backyard.
This is simply the beginning of my list regarding the impacts of powerplant pollution.
There is acid rain, smog, lung disease, heart disease, asthma, on and on. ...
According to the Energy Information Administration, there has been no change in the average coal-fired power plant efficiency in the last 40 years. Older powerplants emit about twice the amount of harmful pollutants for every increment of electricity generated than newer powerplants.
But even some of these issues pale in comparison to the impact that the release of carbon dioxide from powerplants will have if we do not act soon. Carbon dioxide emissions have been proven to contribute to climate change, and this climate change will have a number of dramatic impacts on our Nation.
Let me list a few. Heat-related deaths will increase 100 percent in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and others. In most of New England, the hardwood forest will vanish. In Delaware, a predicted 20-inch rise in sea level will flood 50 percent of Delaware Bay wetlands. Brook trout nationwide may lose 50 percent of their habitat. Drought will be pervasive.
Coastal States, such as Alaska, will see a massive impact, including flooding of coastal villages, storm surges, and extensive infrastructure damage from temperature change, like the melting of the permafrost in northern regions.
Even the administration's recent Climate Action Report recognizes the grave impacts that climate change will have on our health, economy, and the environment.
What are we doing about this air pollution and global warming crisis? What action is this administration taking to reduce harmful emissions from old polluting powerplants? What is the Environmental Protection Agency doing to save lives and reduce the health impacts from powerplant -- related air pollution?
Let me tell you. Brace yourself. The answer is nothing. ...
I will make it my full-time job to convince the White House that protecting public health is equally as important as public security. The facts are overwhelming, Homeland Security starts at home. It is about saving lives. The greatest threat are the polluters and we can stop them. That is where we will get the best return on homeland security. And I support it.
We can save thousands of lives, and prevent lots of disease and environmental degradation if we act now to reduce powerplant pollution.
I hope and pray the administration will see the light, if they can, through the smog.
Jim Jeffords, an independent, is a U.S. Senator from Vermont. The above commentary has been adapted from a speech Sen. Jeffords delivered on the floor of the Senate, June 26, 2002. To contact him, Click Here.
The above column has been distributed by PoliticsOL.com.
