Letter to EPA on Coal Combustion Residuals
Issue: air pollution | coal | environment & health | federal government
Type: letter to policymaker
Letter signed by PSR and partner groups asking the Environmental Protection Agency to extend by 30 days the comment period for the Interim Final Guidance for State Coal Combustion Residuals Permit Programs.
PSR Expert Testimony on Coal Ash
Issue: coal | environment & health | toxic chemicals
Type: testimony
Chesapeake PSR is suing the EPA over a proposed delay in a rule that slashes coal ash waste discharges into rivers and streams. PSR National Environment & Health Director Barbara Gottlieb gave expert testimony on the health impacts of coal ash disposal.
PSR Policy on Carbon Pricing
Issue: air pollution | children's health | climate change | coal | environment & health | environmental justice | renewable energy
Type: policy statement
PSR recommends a Price on Carbon applied to Fossil Fuels as a Tool to Help Prevent Global Climate Catastrophe Statement: Physicians for Social Responsibility urges the United States to adopt a carbon price on fossil fuels to control global emissions of carbon dioxide and methane, the chief causes of global climate change. Background: The Intergovernmental …
Heat Advisory: Protecting Health on a Warming Planet
Issue: air pollution | climate change | coal | environment & health
Type: book review
Dr. Alan Lockwood, PSR senior scientist on coal and climate change, has written a new book, Heat Advisory: Protecting Health on a Warming Planet, published by MIT Press. Drawing on peer-reviewed scientific and medical research, Dr. Lockwood meticulously details the symptoms of climate change and their medical side effects. He also calls for “preventive medicine,” explaining …
Selling Our Health Down the River
Issue: coal | environment & health | federal government | safe food & water | toxic chemicals
Type: report
Why EPA Needs to Finalize the Strongest Rule to Stop Water Pollution from Power Plants The Environmental Protection Agency recently set the first federal limits on how much arsenic, mercury, selenium, nitrogen and other toxic metals coal-fired power plants can discharge into streams and rivers. PSR coauthored this report in June 2015 documenting the need …
The Silent Epidemic: Coal and the Hidden Threat to Health
Issue: coal | environment & health
Type: book review
About the Book: In The Silent Epidemic, Alan Lockwood, a physician, describes and documents the impacts of the coal fuel cycle on human health. Lockwood’s comprehensive treatment examines every aspect of coal, from its complex chemical makeup to details of mining, transporting, burning, and disposal—each of which generates significant health concerns. He explains the impact …
Chromium Fact Sheet
Issue: coal | environment & health | toxic chemicals
Type: fact sheet
A brief overview of the dangers to health from hexavalent chromium in coal ash.
Big Issues in Coal Ash Disposal
Issue: coal | environment & health
Type: fact sheet
The Environmental Protection Agency is currently receiving public comments on its proposed regulations for coal ash handling and disposal. PSR strongly supports the option called “Subtitle C,” which would create uniform, federally enforceable standards that would greatly strengthen protections for human health.
Coal Ash: The Toxic Threat to Our Health and Environment
Issue: coal | environment & health | toxic chemicals
Type: report
Coal ash, one of the dirtiest secrets in American energy production, burst into the U.S. consciousness three days before Christmas, 2008 when an earthen wall holding back a huge coal ash disposal pond failed at the coal-fired power plant in Kingston, Tennessee. The 40-acre pond spilled more than 1 billion gallons of coal ash slurry …
Coal Ash Toxics: Damaging to Human Health
Issue: coal | environment & health | toxic chemicals
Type: fact sheet
The toxic substances found in coal ash can inflict grave damage to the human body and the environment. These substances have been shown to escape from some coal ash disposal sites, contaminating the air, land, surface waters, and/or underground aquifers that feed drinking water wells.