I’ve touched on some of the various health statistics associated with coal in other articles, but did not really get into the reasons why coal fired power plants cause the issues, or what the specific problems are. To recap, there are more than 23,000 deaths in the US every year that can be attributed to emissions from coal fired power plants. The main problems caused by the emissions are respiratory issues, such as asthma and chronic bronchitis. DOE Air Quality Research also shows that there is a “positive correlation” with heart disease and lung cancer.
“Positive correlation” is another way of saying that we know the emissions cause illness, but it’s extremely difficult to scientifically prove a direct link. Other studies show that emissions from power plants are the primary source for Mercury exposure in humans, in the form of Methylmercury, which can cause neurological symptoms. More specifically, the EPA says, “Methylmercury exposure in the womb, which can result from a mother’s consumption of fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury, can adversely affect a baby’s growing brain and nervous system. Impacts on cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language, and fine motor and visual spatial skills have been seen in children exposed to methylmercury in the womb.”
The health effects of coal power plant emissions are well known and well documented. However, they are often either completely overlooked or even ignored when the US Coal Industry uses the term “clean coal.” The primary argument used to justify the name “clean coal” are chemical scrubbing of *regulated* pollutants and Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS). Coal plants have been required to scrub emissions from regulated pollutants since the Clean Air Act, and the only thing new since the launch of the “clean coal” campaign was the hope of CCS. Mercury has only recently been regulated. On March 15, 2005, the EPA issued the Clean Air Mercury Rule, which established gradually decreasing caps. Emissions from coal fired power plants still contain toxins that are not currently regulated, so until everything is captured, they cannot be clean.
Even IF all emissions from coal fired power plants are eliminated (will never happen), and everything is captured and sequestered, the waste needs to be stored. The volume of the waste is too large for any permanent storage, and toxic spills like the one in the Tennessee Valley will continue to happen. Mining coal is dirty, burning coal is dirty, and disposing of the waste products are dirty. Power from coal will NEVER be clean.
