The electric power industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. Toxic mercury, soot, smog-forming air pollution, and global climate change gases from power plants seriously threaten public health and the environment.
Hazardous waste generated from nuclear power plants pollutes our land, air, and water.
Despite the existence of clean technologies and abundant resources in New Mexico for generating renewable energy, many utilities continue to rely on old, fossil fuel-burning power plants. In the Farmington area, two power plants, San Juan and Four Corners, are among the 50 largest mercury polluters of all power plants. In New Mexico, there are 26 different lakes and streams with warnings against eating fish due to mercury contamination, which can cause severe neurological damage. A 1999 scientific study blamed smog for 6 million asthma attacks. The electric industry is the largest industrial source of smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution in New Mexico.