20 States with the Most Toxic Air from Coal and Oil-Fired Power Plants

Using data from the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory, the Natural Resources Defense Council has compiled a list of states with the most toxic air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants. Release of the analysis, entitled “Toxic Power: How Power Plants Contaminate Our Air and States” coincides with efforts by some members of Congress to block or postpone EPA’s clean air safeguards.

Among the report’s key findings:

• Nearly half of all the toxic air pollution reported from industrial sources in the United States comes from coal- and oil-fired power plants.
• Power plants are the single largest industrial source of toxic air pollution in 28 states and the District of Columbia.

The states on the “Toxic 20” list, starting with the worst, are:

“Coal pollution is killing Americans,” said Lynn Ringenberg, MD, of Physicians for Social Responsibility which co-released the analysis. “It is America’s biggest source of toxic air pollution. Air toxics from coal-fired power plants cause cancer, birth defects, and respiratory illness. Just one of those air toxics, mercury, damages the developing brains of fetuses, infants, and small children. It robs our children of healthy neurological development and native intelligence.

The 28 states in which power plants are the leading source of toxic air pollution reported to the TRI include: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

For the full methodology, see the analysis “Toxic Power: How Power Plants Contaminate Our Air and States.”

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