Coal is Dirty and Dangerous

Damaging land, air, water and health

You've seen the TV ads trying to sell the fantasy of "clean coal." Many politicians embrace the idea. And why not? The coal industry and its allies spent close to $50 million in 2008 on a campaign to sway public support for more coal-fired power plants.

If you listen to the ads, it sounds like "clean coal" is already here. But it's a fraud. The environmental and health costs necessary to mine it, transport it, burn it, and dispose of its waste make "clean coal" the equivalent of "healthy cigarettes." They just don't exist.

Sure, coal companies like to say that the nation's coal-fired power plants are 70 percent "cleaner" than they were 30 years ago. But they neglect to say that those air quality improvements are due to the Clean Air Act and its amendments -- legislation that the industry fought bitterly -- not to mention rigorous enforcement of our nation's laws, which the industry has repeatedly sought to undermine.

"Coal is a dirty business." – U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

And there are currently no laws limiting global warming pollution. As a result, coal-fired power plants have been churning out more and more heat-trapping gases every year.

If you think what goes into the air is bad, you should see what's left behind. The waste from burning coal is packed with heavy metals such as arsenic, which causes cancer. Around the country, about 600 landfills and surface ponds are used to store leftover contaminated coal waste -- without any effective federal government regulation. When they break or leak, communities face the risk of contaminated farmland, wildlife and drinking water.

Yet the industry wants to bring you more, pushing for the construction of more than 60 new coal-fired power plants across the country in the coming years. Billions of dollars in corporate profits are at stake for the coal companies.

But for Americans, the stakes are even higher -- good health, clean air, safe water and the future of our economy and climate.

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