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ALAF � FCAN � FCA � Florida PIRG � LEAF � NET � PEEF � SACE |
Florida's dirty dinosaurs: How power plant pollution threatens our health and our ecosystems
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Asthma attacks and emergency room visits: A 1999 study by Abt Associates estimated that in a single ozone season of 1997, ozone smog pollution in Florida caused more than 400,000 asthma attacks and sent more than 12,000 Floridians to hospital emergency rooms. Children whose lungs are still developing are especially vulnerable to these health threats, as are senior citizens and people with asthma or other respiratory disease. Power plants are Florida's largest industrial source of nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution that causes smog formation. |
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Premature mortality: A study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that �soot� or �fine particulate� air pollution causes more than 15,000 premature deaths each year. Particulate pollution from power plants has been directly linked to 1,740 premature deaths each year in Florida. Older coal and oil burning power plants are the largest source of sulfur dioxide (SO2), a primary component of soot.
Developmental disabilities and neurological damage: The Florida Department of Health has issued mercury advisories for over 180,000 acres of lakes and 2,000 miles of rivers, warning against consuming fish due to the risk of mercury exposure. When ingested by pregnant or nursing women, mercury can cause neurological damage to the developing fetus or young child. Coal-burning power plants are responsible for nearly 1/3 of all mercury emissions in Florida
Global Warming: The world's leading climate scientists have concluded that man-made carbon emissions are causing a rise in the Earth's temperature. Unless we can reverse this trend, they predict that global warming will have devastating consequences such as sea-level rise, northward spread of insect-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, and increasingly severe and frequent natural disasters such as floods, droughts and hurricanes. Florida ranked 1st in the nation in damage due to extreme weather in the 1990's, amounting to more than $28 billion. Power plants account for nearly 1/3 of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Florida
Agricultural Damage & Crop Loss: For more than 30 years, agricultural research has shown that ozone smog significantly reduces yields of many commercially important crops like corn, peanuts and soybeans. The U.S. EPA estimates that in 1996 the ozone impact on selected Florida crop yield and value totaled between $2.96 and $6.1 million dollars. The only study that has been conducted to assess the economic impact of ozone on the production and yield of fruits and vegetables was conducted in California. Applying the calculations from that study to Florida suggests that fruit and vegetable farmers stand to gain between $68,700,000 to $95,900,000 through attainment of the new ozone standard (EPA 1996). Clearly, yield loss from ozone costs Florida farmers and the Florida economy a lot.