Air of Injustice: African Americans and Power Plant Pollution

This report chronicles how African Americans are affected by the air pollution emitted by our nation’s biggest polluters: coal-fired power plants. These plants release millions of pounds of a wide variety of chemicals to the air, water and landfills. This report describes the relationship between power plant pollutants like sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, mercury, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide and environmental health issues that have the most impact on African Americans: pediatric asthma, infant death rates, emergency room visits and hospitalizations, fish contamination and climate change.