However this combustion results in the emission of dangerous air pollutants, posing serious threats to public health and the environment. For New Jersey citizens the health effects from fossil fuel combustion are of enormous concern.
New Jersey has the second worst air quality in the nation.
According to the National Academy of Sciences, there are record levels of mercury contamination in the fish of New Jersey's lakes and waterways. The Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, Robert Shinn, acknowledged that coal and oil burning power plants are large emitters of mercury. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency listed coal and oil burning plants as the single largest emitters of mercury. The state has advised pregnant women, nursing mothers and children not to eat New Jersey's freshwater fish because those fish ar contaminated with mercury, that, if ingested, may cause neurological damage to fetuses and young children. Even though safer and cleaner energy sources are available, New Jersey energy providers are making little effort to move away from fossil fuels.