More than 100 million Americans live in regions that fail to meet health-based smog standards. Fine soot particles are both directly emitted by power plants and are formed in complex reactions involving sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. In addition, studies have found that soot may cause heart attacks and arrhythmia and that the incidence of strokes and heart failure is greater in areas with high levels of soot. Power plants released more than one billion pounds of toxic pollutants in 1998, more than any other industry except metal mining. One of the most dangerous toxins is mercury.
Power plants are responsible for thirty-four percent of all mercury emissions.
Just one drop of mercury can contaminate a 25-acre lake to the point where fish are unsafe to eat, making mercury contamination the most common reason for fish advisories. Carbon dioxide pollution buidling up in the atmosphere is the single biggest contributer to global warming . In addition, the Clean Power Act would require every power plant to meet the most recent pollution controls required for new sources by the plants 30th birthday or five years after enactment of the Act, whichever is later.