Residents of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida live in states with the most toxic air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants, according to an analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The study used publicly-available data in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The analysis, entitled “Toxic Power: How Power Plants Contaminate Our Air and States” was jointly released today by NRDC and Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). Among the key findings:
- Nearly half of all the toxic air pollution reported from industrial sources in the United States comes from coal- and oil-fired power plants.
- Power plants are the single largest industrial source of toxic air pollution in 28 states and the District of Columbia.