Friday, April 5, 2002
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Friday, April 5, 2002 |
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Group says air is getting dirtier By JOHN
THOMPSON
A grassroots coalition is claiming that Atlanta's air, including Fayette County's, is getting dirtier because of the region's power plants. Clean Up Southern Company, a group with more than 130 members, released a report Thursday, saying the power plants in Georgia are becoming "dramatically dirtier." The report, "Darkening Skies: Trends Towards Increasing Power Plant Emissions" that Georgia is one of the worst states when it comes to power plant emissions. "Emissions of smog-forming nitrogen oxides are up a staggering 12,399 tons from 1995," said Roger Smith, coordinator of the group. According to the group's report, hundreds of power plants emit more pollution today and Fayette County is not meeting the 1997 ozone standard because of nearby Plant Yates in Coweta County. The report said the Yates plant had the greatest increase in sulfur dioxide pollution in the state, with more than 24,000 tons in the last four years. Yates is also taken to task for having one of the highest nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emission increases. "This report highlights our nation's dirty and dangerous dependence on coal," said Stephanie Bonin, Clean Energy Organizer of Georgia Public Interest Research Group. "We are relying on outdated technology while the alternatives and solutions of renewable power are effective and obtainable." One of the reports final findings is the absence of mandatory limits on carbon dioxide has resulted in a sharp rise in total emissions of the gas, which forms a heat-trapping blanket in the atmosphere that leads to global warming. But Southern Company spokesperson Tiffany Gilstrap believes the group is being very "selective" in interpreting the data. "Based on the report we saw, emissions are down significantly from 1990. They're being selective in using a baseline of 1995 for a lot of their conclusions," she said.
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