Clean Air, Healthy Families
New carbon pollution standards will help protect Coloradans’ health, so we’re urging the EPA to move forward with commonsense standards to help protect our health—and our environment.
Clean Air, Healthy Families
Carbon pollution threatens our health
Carbon pollution spewing from power plants threatens Coloradans’ health. Doctors, nurses and scientists warn that it fuels global warming, which triggers poor air quality that makes it harder for children to breathe and contributes to thousands of asthma attacks, heart attacks and other fatal diseases.
Studies show that more than 300,000 Colorado adults and 98,000 children already suffer from asthma. Nationwide, smog pollution alone leads to roughly 4,700 premature deaths and 19,000 emergency room visits. Allowing power plants to continue emitting unlimited amounts of carbon pollution will mean more global warming and dirtier air for Coloradans.
Scientists also warn that global warming is expected to lead to more devastating floods, deadly heat waves and many other threats.
Coal-fired power plants need to be cleaned up
Coal-fired power plants are the largest single source of carbon pollution, yet they currently lack any federal limits on their carbon emissions. And coal-fired power plants like the Valmont plant near Boulder are a big part of the problem.
Big utilities that have been allowed for decades to spew unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into our air, all while taking in enormous government subsidies, are sure to fight for more of the same. They’ll join with the coal companies and spend millions on lobbying advertising to try and get off the hook for cutting carbon pollution from their dirty power plants.
With your help, we can make history
Enough is enough, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agrees. Despite powerful industry naysayers, the EPA is developing the first-ever carbon pollution standards for new power plants.
Now comes the hard part—getting these standards across the finish line and overcoming the corporate polluters’ opposition. So we’re working closely with our allies in the public health community, working to rally tens of thousands of activists to stand up for public health and our environment.
It won’t be easy, but if enough of us speak out, we can drown out the coal industry lobbyists and make sure EPA is allowed to do its job and protect public health.
Key Facts
- In Colorado, more than 300,000 adults and 98,000 children suffer from asthma.
- Nationwide, smog pollution alone leads to roughly 4,700 premature deaths and 19,000 emergency room visits.
- Scientists warn that global warming—fueled by carbon pollution—will increase temperatures and make smog pollution even worse in Colorado and nationwide.
- Coal-fired power plants are the largest single source of carbon pollution in the U.S., yet these facilities lack any federal limits on their carbon emissions.
- Global warming-induced ozone air pollution increases in Colorado could result in 61,000 additional cases of serious respiratory illnesses and roughly $86 million (in 2008 dollars) in additional health costs in 2020.