A report out from the US’s Natural Resources Defense Council ranking the Toxic 20 states in terms of pollution from coal and air fired power plants is as under.

1. Kentucky
2. Ohio
3. Pennsylvania
4. Indiana
5. West Virginia
6. Florida
7. Michigan
8. North Carolina
9. Georgia
10. Texas
11. Tennessee
12. Virginia
13. South Carolina
14. Alabama
15. Missouri
16. Illinois
17. Mississippi
18. Wisconsin
19. Maryland
20. Delaware.

If there is a silver lining in this pollution choked cloud, it is the good news in the Toxic 20 report: There was a 19% drop in all air toxics emitted from power plants in 2010 compared to the previous year. The bad news is that some in Congress are trying to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from getting the rest of the job done to further reduce the death, disease and economic losses from power plant pollution.

Mr John Walke NRDC’s clean air director said that “Toxic pollution is already being reduced as a result of EPA’s health protecting standards. Thanks to the agency’s latest safeguards, millions of children and their families in the states hardest hit by toxic air pollution from power plants will be able to breathe easier. But these protections are threatened because polluters are intent on persuading future Congresses or presidential administrations to repeal them.”

Source - switchboard.nrdc.org

(www.coalguru.com)