Glen Burnie—The Brandon Shores power plant in Anne Arundel county on the Chesapeake Bay is the dirtiest power plant in Maryland based on carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution according to a new analysis of government data released today by Environment Maryland.
"It's time for the oldest and dirtiest power plants to clean up their act," said Environment Maryland field associate Mike Sherling. "Fossil fuel-fired giants have dominated our electricity for decades and have been allowed to pollute without license. In order to stop global warming and reap the benefits of clean energy, we must require old clunker power plants to meet modern standards for global warming pollution."
Power plants currently do not have to meet any global warming pollution standard, meaning that they are an unchecked contributor to global warming. In fact, power plants are the nation's single largest source of global warming pollution.
The growing impacts of global warming will impose threats to our safety and immense financial cost on our society, and most notably for Maryland, rising water levels in the Chesapeake Bay, further damaging an already fragile ecosystem. To avoid the worst effects of global warming, the science shows that the United States must cut its global warming pollution by 35 percent by 2020.
The new report from Environment Maryland, "America's Biggest Polluters: Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Power Plants in 2007," looks at carbon dioxide emissions from power plants across the country using 2007 data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 2007 is the most recent year for which final data is available. The report examines both age of and pollution from power plants to document the fact that we are reliant on an energy infrastructure that is both old and polluting. The key findings include the following:
- Maryland is home to the 20th oldest operating power plant in the country. The R. Paul Smith Power Station plant in Williamsport has been operating for 60 years, built within a decade of the television first becoming commercially available. Many of the plants in Maryland are decades-old. In fact, 8 of Maryland's 12 plants were built before 1980.
- The Brandon Shores power plant located in Anne Arundel county was the dirtiest power plant in Maryland in 2007 based on its carbon dioxide emissions. The Brandon Shores plant has been in operation since 1984, before George H.W. Bush became President, and produces the same amount of global warming pollution in a year as 1.4 million of today's cars.
- Nationally, the report shows that America's power is dominated by old and polluting plants, and that the oldest and dirtiest plants often go hand-in-hand. Power plants built three decades ago or more produced 73 percent of the total global warming pollution from power plants in 2007. Older power plants on average are dirtier per unit of energy than newer ones.
"America's power is both decades-old and dangerously polluting. We're reliant on technology that's as old as the very first commercially available televisions. Televisions have gone from black-and-white clunkers to super high-definition flat screens, but they're still powered by the same dirty electricity," Sherling said.
"Clean energy holds the future of America—to make our nation energy independent, create millions of new jobs, and stop the worst effects of global warming. In order to realize this clean energy future, power plants must stop polluting with impunity," Sherling said.
The U.S. Senate is slated to consider legislation in the next few months to establish the first-ever federal limits on global warming pollution and standards and incentives for clean energy. In addition, EPA has proposed a rule to require power plants and other large smokestack industries to use available technology to cut their global warming pollution when new facilities are constructed or existing facilities are significantly modified.
However, fossil fuel industries are fighting the transition to clean energy. The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a coal industry lobby group, spent at least $40 million dollars in 2008 alone – more than $100,000 a day – on lobbyists and advertising on energy. Earlier this year, they hired lobbyists who forged phony constituent letters to Congress opposing action on clean energy.
"We urge Senator Mikulski to ensure that the Senate passes an energy bill that requires old, clunker power plants to meet modern standards for global warming pollution so we can finally move to clean energy, like wind and solar power. We also urge EPA to finalize its proposed rule to cut global warming pollution from dirty power plants.
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Environment Maryland is a state-based, citizen-funded environmental organization working for clean air, clean water, and open space.
