An annual report by NAFTA’s environmental agency says electric power plants are the worst air polluters in North America. It also says much of the pollution comes from states and provinces in the region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David Sommerstein has details:
Transcript
An annual report by NAFTA’s environmental agency says electric power plants are the
worst air polluters in North America. It also says much of the pollution comes from
Great Lakes states and provinces. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David
Sommerstein has details:
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation studied industrial chemical releases in
North America in 2001, the latest data available. After Texas… Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Indiana, and the province of Ontario led in toxic emissions.
The study also found air pollution was down overall. But it still accounted for two-thirds
of all chemicals released by industry. Bill Kennedy is the commission’s Executive
Director.
‘There’s still a lot of chemicals that are going into the air and we think that the
governments and industry need to do a better job.”
Kennedy says the electric industry has the most work to do. Mostly coal-fired power
plants produced almost half of all the air pollution in 2001, including 64% of all mercury
emissions. The report calls for the United States, Canada, and Mexico to use more
renewable energies to reduce reliance on polluting power plants.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m David Sommerstein.