Maryland Beyond the Coal

H. A. Wagner Power Plant, Pasadena, MD. Photo by F. Sypher

Moving Maryland Beyond the Coal

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Pollution from coal-fired power plants contributes to four of the five leading causes of death in the United States and adds nearly $62 billion per year to health-care costs. They are also the single largest contributor to global warming, responsible for 39 percent of our total greenhouse gas emissions.

The Maryland Sierra Club’s Moving Maryland Beyond Coal (MMBC) campaign is aiming to get two coal-fired power plants in the state phased out. We are targeting two plants in particular,H.A.Wagner and C.P. Crane, because of their age, the high amount of pollution they release, the small amount of energy they produce, and the need to move into renewable energy.

From the time it’s ripped from the earth till the time its toxic residues are collected from power plants, coal harms our health and makes our planet increasingly inhospitable to human and other life.

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Things You Can Do:

Tell Secretary Summers to Protect Our Health from Coal!

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and O'Malley administration have an important opportunity to protect our health, but they're stalling.

The Crane and Wagner coal-fired power plants, right outside of Baltimore, operate with permits allowing them to spew sulfur dioxide pollution at levels exceeding healthy limits established by the EPA.The pollution range of the plants covers more than 100 parks, recreation areas, and schools, potentially harming 35,000 children in Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties.

Now the plants are being sold, giving the MDE a unique opportunity to revise their permits and reduce their pollution levels. Unfortunately, despite possessing studies that demonstrate the plants' health risks, Secretary of the Environment Robert Summers has yet to announce intentions to address Crane and Wagner's dangerous pollution levels.²

You can make a difference today. Let Secretary Summers know the MDE needs to do its job and require the owners of Crane and Wagner to reduce the plants' emissions.

The Crane and Wagner coal plants are the last two coal plants in the entire Mid-Atlantic region without modern pollution controls that have not announced plans to retire or clean up. Across the country, other states are protecting public health by requiring coal plants to pollution control technology, but Maryland is falling behind. In the American Lung Association's 2012 State of the Air Report, 15 counties in Maryland were monitored for air quality and 11 of them received failing grades!

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Volunteer to help us with tabling events, getting postcards signed at your local community, or writing a letter to the editor!

Please Contact

Chris Hill,
Conservation Representative

301-277-7111 chris.hill@sierraclub.org

Links

LEARN
	SO2 Pollution Plumes: Families at Risk: Toxic Pollution Threatens Baltimore's Kids at Their Schools, Parks, and Homes, Sierra Club Maryland, 10/2012 Crane and Wagner Map Crane and Wagner Message Box Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign State of the Air: Maryland, American Lung Association, 2012 NRDC report: Wagner dirtiest in State Death and Disease From Power Plants
	Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
NEWS
	Group says two power plants polluting Baltimore's air, Baltimore Sun, 10/10/2012 State Won't Open Permits for Pasadena Power Plants, Maryland Gazette, 10/10/2012 Kayak Trip Energizes MD Campaign to Retire Dirty Coal Plants in Baltimore WAMU Radio spot: Environmentalists Push to Shut Down Power Plant Sierra Club kayakers urge closure of recently sold coal plants Coal still a major cause of Maryland's toxic air pollution Sale of Three Baltimore Coal Plants Raises Concerns for Local Residents Delay in Coal Pollution Rules Took Toll in Lives
	The EPA Offers Tougher Rules for Power Plants

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