Study Links Early Deaths to Smokestacks

A new study finds soot from coal burning power plants is cutting shortthe lives of thousands of people in the region. The Great Lakes RadioConsortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

A new study finds soot from coal burning power plants is cutting short the
lives of thousands of people in the region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester
Graham reports.


The study finds fine particles from power plant smokestacks are causing
early deaths for more than 30 thousand people nationwide. Midwest and Great Lakes
cities such as Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis are listed among the top ten metropolitan
areas with the worst health impacts from power plant soot. Cities near power plants fared
the worst in the study. The study also confirmed earlier findings that power plant
emissions increase asthma attacks- and it found the soot might cause complications for
people with other respiratory or heart diseases. The Clean Air Task Force, which
commissioned the study, says two-thirds of the early deaths could be avoided
if Congress closed a loophole that currently allows the oldest, dirtiest power plants to
operate without complying with the most protective emissions standards.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.