CONTACT: Erin Jordahl, 515-277-8868
Eric Uram, 608-347-8008
Sierra Club Greets President Bush with Report Showing
Major Threat to Iowans from Coal Plant Pollution--
Group call on Senators to promote cleaner energy plan
DES MOINES -- The Sierra Club greeted President Bush at an Iowa fundraiser
by releasing a new report showing coal power plants to be the major source
of cancer-causing pollution in Iowa and the Midwest. A crowd of Sierra Club
members and concerned citizens handed out the report, entitled "Polluted
Power in the Midwest," to draw attention to the Bush Administration's
proposal to build more than 1,300 polluting power plants and weaken
environmental protections like the Clean Air Act. Sierra Club and others
are calling on Senators Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley to protect Iowans'
future by voting for higher fuel economy, more renewable power like wind
from Iowa farms, and keeping oil drilling out of the Arctic and other
special places.
"We need to re-think the way we generate electricity," said Jane Clark,
Sierra Club Iowa Conservation Chair. "For that reason, Sierra Club is
calling on Senators Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley to support a cleaner,
safer energy plan that looks to the future rather than one stuck in the past
and mired in fossil fuels and polluting power plants."
The "Polluted Power in the Midwest" study shows more than half (51%) of the
cancer-causing pollution from large industries in the Midwest comes from
coal-fired power plants. Iowa is disproportionately affected, with 89% of
the state's cancer-causing pollution coming from coal-fired power plants
while Wisconsin's coal plants are responsible for only 9%. "Polluted Power"
also contends that power plants are the largest source of arsenic air
pollution in the Midwest, with 99.9% of Iowa's arsenic pollution coming from
power plants.
"Next to tobacco, the next major preventable cause of cancer is air
pollution," said Dr. Charles Winterwood M.D., pediatrician and Chair of the
Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club. "We want the visiting President to know
that his energy policy is dirty and dangerous. We also want Senators Tom
Harkin and Charles Grassley to support building renewable sources of energy
rather than coal-fired power plants to help save Iowans' lives."
In 2001, President Bush and Vice-President Cheney proposed building 1,300
new power plants, and this year advocated weakening the 1990 Clean Air Act
standards, laws that require new or expanding plants to put in updated
pollution control technology to reduce health risks.
Recent studies link coal plants to 30,000 premature deaths and increased
cancer cases, but this is the first study showing the major role coal power
plants have in cancer-causing pollution. The data is from the 1999
self-reported Toxics Release Inventory that industries give to EPA, and was
analyzed by www.scorecard.org and the Sierra Club.
Currently, less than 2% of the electricity in the Midwest is generated from
renewable sources. In many places, including Iowa, there is more demand for
renewable energy than supply. And people are willing to pay more for clean
energy production as well.
"The bad news is lots of pollution comes from dirty, old coal plants," said
Eric Uram, Sierra Club Regional Representative. "The good news is we know
how to clean them up. Not only that, we can give farmers another way to pay
the bills and improve Iowa's energy and economic future."
The group called on Senators Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley to support
cleaning up dirty coal plants, promoting greater energy efficiency, and
promoting cleaner, more renewable sources of energy like wind, solar, and
biomass. The Sierra Club is asking the Senators to support the Jeffords
proposal for 20% renewable portfolio standard for electrical generation, The
Kerry/Hollings proposal to increase the miles per gallon average per car to
35 mpg, and continue supporting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling
ban.
"Sierra Club is asking everyone, including Senators Tom Harkin and Charles
Grassley, to support measures that will provide cleaner energy and increased
efficiency instead of overlooking the wasted energy and potential health
problems inherent in the President's plan," concluded Uram.
For more information on what you can do to promote clean air and clean
energy, see www.sierraclub.org.
Erin Jordahl
Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club
3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280
Des Moines, IA 50310
515-277-8868
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