Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability 1

PreventionSolutionsStationary Source Air PollutionBurn low-sulfur coalRemove sulfurfrom coalConvert coal to aliquid or gaseousfuelShift to lesspolluting fuelsDispersion orCleanupDisperse emissionsabove thermalinversion layer withtall smokestacksRemove pollutantsafter combustionTax each unit ofpollution producedFigure 20-17 Solutions: methods for reducing emissionsof sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter fromstationary sources such as coal-burning electric power plantsand industrial plants.input stage by using cleaner coal technologies. One isfluidized-bed combustion, which reduces pollutant emissionsand burns coal more efficiently by blowing astream of hot air into a boiler to burn a mixture of powderedcoal and crushed limestone. Another is coal gasification,which has a mixture of advantages and disadvantages(Figure 17-22, p. 365). Environmentalistsargue for much greater emphasis on prevention approachesto decrease the levels of these pollutantsreaching the troposphere.Case Study: What Should We Do aboutAir Pollution from Older Coal-BurningFacilities? A Burning ControversyThere is controversy over whether older coalburningplants in the United States shouldhave to meet the same air pollution standardsas new plants.For several decades, environmental scientists, environmentalists,and the attorneys general of a number ofstates have been fighting to require about 20,000 oldercoal-burning power plants and industrial plants (reddots in Figure 20-9) and oil refineries in the UnitedStates to meet the air pollution standards required fornew facilities under the Clean Air Act. Such plantswere not required to do this because they were alreadyin existence when the law was passed in 1970.A 1977 rule in the Clean Air Act—called theNew Source Review—requires these older facilities toupgrade pollution control equipment when theyexpand or modernize their facilities. But for almostthree decades their owners have been getting aroundthe rules by expanding the plants and calling itmaintenance.In addition they have lobbied elected officials tohave this rule overturned. In 2002, their efforts paid offwhen the Bush administration announced that it waseasing the New Source Review restrictions and thusmaking it easier for older facilities to expand and modernizewithout having to add expensive pollution controlequipment.Opponents say the revised rule would gut theonly provision in the Clean Air Act that could be usedto force such facilities to reduce air pollution emissions.They believe it is naive to think that refineriesand coal-burning power and industrial plants aregoing to spend billions of dollars installing modernpollution control equipment when they have notdone so in almost three decades and now do not haveto (unless they can somehow persuade Congress tohave taxpayers foot the bill). A 2004 study by AbtAssociates (a consulting firm that the EPA has used toevaluate air pollution policies) found that strengtheningthe pollution standards for these aging coal-firedplants would prevent 22,000 premature deaths peryear.In 2003, the attorneys general of nine northeasternstates challenged this change in the New SourceReview in federal court. Their lawsuit alleges that theEPA is exceeding its power in overturning the rule. In2003, the National Academy of Public Administration,an independent advisory body set up by Congress in1984, opposed easing the New Source Review rules.Instead, the group advised Congress to give the dirtiestU.S. coal-fired power and industrial plants a 10-year deadline to either install the latest air pollutioncontrol equipment or shut down to protect humanhealth. The group said that when Congress establishedthe new source rules in 1977 it did not intend for dirtyplants to run indefinitely.xHOW WOULD YOU VOTE? Should older coal-burning powerand industrial plants have to meet the same air pollution standardsas new plants? Cast your vote online at http://biology.brookscole.com/miller14.How Can We Reduce Outdoor AirPollution from Motor Vehicles? EmphasizePreventionThere are a number of ways to prevent andcontrol air pollution from motor vehicles.456 CHAPTER 20 Air Pollution