Alaine Ball and Chelsea Brown |
Source: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Opinion/Their-View-Coal-plant-is-a-statewide-health-threat-081008

8/10/2008 - 8/10/08

There has been much talk recently about the Bush administration's sustained efforts to undermine the functioning of government agencies from the Justice Department to the Environmental Protection Agency. This week New Mexico felt the reach of such corruption as the Environmental Protection Agency issued a permit for the Desert Rock Coal Plant proposed in Northwest New Mexico.

The EPA, whose mission is to "protect human health and the environment," gave two big thumbs up on a plan that will pollute New Mexico's air and water and harm our citizens. Worse still, the power for the plant won't help any of us, but will instead provide cheap electricity for Las Vegas, Nev., and Phoenix.

Coal-fired power plants are responsible for two-thirds of all U.S. sulfur dioxide emissions, and Desert Rock will add to this. These emissions cause a host of pulmonary and cardiovascular disorders and have been associated with 24,000 premature deaths annually — more people than are killed by drunken drivers.

Even without the Desert Rock Plant, San Juan County already suffers from high levels of air pollution originating from two existing coal-fired power plants in the area — communities in northwest New Mexico are on the brink of exceeding the maximum level of ozone permitted by the EPA. Ozone, which is formed when nitrogen oxide reacts with volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere, causes lung-tissue damage, worsening of asthma and leads to increased hospitalization rates.

New Mexico has one of the highest concentrations of airborne mercury in the United States, and Desert Rock is projected to add as much as 500 pounds of mercury to the air per year. Fetal exposure to mercury can result in a range of developmental problems, including mental retardation and brain damage.

The issuing of the Air Quality Permit by the EPA despite enormous health concerns is a prime example of coal companies working in concert with the Bush administration to push through approval on coal-fired power plants before the next administration. This happened despite receiving more than 1,000 public comments urging the EPA to perform a more detailed and fair analysis of the environmental and health impacts of building a 1,500-megawatt coal-fired power plant.

Proponents for Desert Rock claim the plant will use new technologies and be "clean." We've heard this tune before. In the 1950s the tobacco industry developed cigarette filters and made the claim that they were healthier; history has proven otherwise. Like a filtered cigarette, the Desert Rock plant will release less pollution than its older counterparts, but will still cause significant health problems for New Mexicans.

We cannot afford to be swayed by irresponsible euphemisms like "clean coal." Consequently, the United States should immediately enact a moratorium on the construction of new coal-fired power plants and host an honest debate with straightforward vocabulary about ways to power our communities while safeguarding health. Political will and scientific consensus are building around the world for a new energy economy, and the EPA has an obligation to support policies that will usher in the age of truly clean energy technologies.

Alaine Ball is Program Director for 1Sky New Mexico in Santa Fe. Chelsea Brown is interning with 1Sky New Mexico and is a student of Tufts University in Boston.