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Winners
and Losers
June 2003
The Sierra Club
Activist Resource
 In
2001, U.S. power plants killed more people than died in the World
Trade Center. According to a report by the Rockefeller Family Fund’s
Environmental Integrity Project, between 4,800 and 5,600 deaths
resulted from emissions from the nation’s 41 dirtiest plants.
Since 1990, these plants have been allowed to buy and sell pollution
credits among themselves. While this program has helped reduce overall
SO2 emissions by a third, not everyone has benefited:
31 of the 41 plants actually increased their emissions, raising
pollution levels in 16 states. The Bush administration is now seeking
to expand pollution trading under its Clear Skies initiative. If
Congress okays Clear Skies, will you be a winner, or a loser?
For details,
see the Rockefeller Family Fund’s November 2002 report "Left
Behind" at www.rffund.org.
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By
The Numbers:
- Percent
increase in atmospheric CO2 over the past century:
30
- Number
of states suing the EPA for failing to regulate greenhouse
gases: 7
- Estimated
savings, under the current tax code, for purchase of a fuel-efficient
hybrid vehicle: 3,729
- Estimated
savings, under a new administration proposal, for small-business
purchase of a Hummer H1: $33,634
- Percent
decline in total amount paid in criminal penalties for environmental
crimes since Bush took office: 34
- Percent
decline in civil penalties paid: 50
- Percent
of logging projects completed last year in Bitterroot National
Forest: 70
- Percent
of watershed-restoration and road removal projects completed:
3
- Number
of years since the pesticide methyl bromide was recognized
as an ozone-depleting substance: 11
- Number
of exemptions the Bush administration is seeking this year
from the international ban on methyl bromide: 54
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