Power Plants Increase Pollution Again

It is a fact that power plants, which number about 1000, produce about one/third of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, that is dumped into our air each year. That's about 2 billion tons of pollution each year. That's a huge amount of pollution for just one industry to be responsible for.

Since he's been in office, Bush has done nothing to try and rein in this pollution by the huge energy companies. In the pitiful energy bill recently passed, it called for automobiles to be more efficient, but Bush made it clear he would veto anything that called for cuts in emissions by the power companies.

The new figures show how little is being asked of these companies. Last year, power plants increased their pollution output by 2.9% (even though the demand for electricity grew only 2.3%). That's about another 60 million tons of carbon dioxide they dumped into the atmosphere, over and above the amount they were already producing.

We have reached the point where something must be done about the production of greenhouse gases. Frankly, an industry that produces one/third of these gases each year can no longer be ignored or exempted. The power companies must be forced to clean up their act.

Instead of producing an additional 60 million tons of pollutants each year in addition to the 2 billion tons they already produce, it is time for them to start reducing the amount of these gases each year.

Of course, Texas still leads the nation in power plant pollution. The top five states in power plant pollution are:

1. Texas (262 million tons)

2. Ohio (138.6 million tons)

3. Florida (134.5 million tons)

4. Indiana (132 million tons)

5. Pennsylvania (123.6 million tons)