Coal blooded: Coal fired power plants spell double jeopardy for communities of color

Coal Blooded: Putting Profits Before People is a systematic study of 378 coal-fired power plants in the United States, in which each plant is evaluated in terms of its environmental justice performance (EJP), i.e., how it affects low-income communities and communities of color. A score was assigned to each plant based on five factors: sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions; the total population living within three miles of the plant(s); and the median income and percentage of people of color among the total population living within three miles of the plant(s). The study found that coal fired power plants were disproportionately located in communities of color. The study also found that toxins emitted from those plants, such as mercury, arsenic, lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, are tied to health conditions that are elevated in communities of color such as asthma hospitalizations and death, lung disease, heart disease, attention deficit disorder and other conditions The report provided a path for policy change which includes supporting energy efficiency standards and renewable portfolio standards, as well as passing local ordinances on clean air, increasing rulemaking under the Clean Air Act, and improving monitoring and evaluation and implementation of existing measures such as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.