In a major win for the climate and public health, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized four separate standards today that will slash air, water, and carbon pollution from power plants.
These critically-needed safeguards will improve air and water quality for families, particularly for Indiana communities suffering from pollution from the Gibson, Edwardsport and Clifty Creek coal-burning power plants.
“I have lived in the Madison, Indiana area since the early 1950s and I have seen the stacks at the Clifty Creek power plant for as long as I can remember,”said Richard Hill, Member of the Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter Energy Committee. “We worry about water pollution because the aquifer that provides my family and most of the people in our county their drinking water is in close proximity to the waste disposal area at the plant. I have participated in many hearings and actions over the years, mostly with very little progress. We need actions by the EPA that are going to start cleaning up our air and water and we are hopeful that the time has come to get some positive action.”
Duke Energy, the largest utility in the state, still burns coal and gas to produce 95% of the electricity it delivers, leaving it the most vulnerable utility in Indiana to new pollution regulations. In its latest rate case filing, Duke doubled down on its expensive and polluting coal-burning power plants, projecting to burn more coal over the next five years than it did over the past five years.
“Duke’s Gibson coal plant tops many lists you don’t want to be on,” said Megan Anderson, Senior Organizing Representative, Sierra Club. “It’s the worst carbon-polluting coal plant in our state and lost the most money of any coal plant in an electric wholesale market last year. Duke has failed Hoosiers and the climate with its almost total reliance on dirty fossil fuels. I commend the Biden Administration for taking these steps to protect communities from harmful pollution and holding Duke accountable for its significant role in furthering the climate crisis. Duke shouldn’t invest another cent in fossil fuels; customers need clean and affordable renewable energy now.”
For more information on each standard please see the EPA’s release: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-finalizes-suite-standards-reduce-pollution-fossil-fuel