Nitrogen Oxide Emissions and Midwest Power Plants

The report details the impact of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from coal-fired power plants in six Midwest states, highlighting that these plants account for 30 percent of total annual regional emissions. It argues that current EPA regulations, such as the summertime-only SIP call, are insufficient because they ignore wintertime pollution and exclude certain states. The document links NOx to ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which cause respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, premature deaths, and crop yield losses. Environmental impacts include acid rain, loss of species diversity, and the Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone'. The author advocates for mandatory year-round modern emission controls, such as Selective Catalytic Removal (SCR), for all 'grandfathered' plants.

• Coal-fired power plants are a primary source of nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution in the Midwest, contributing 30 percent of the region's total annual emissions. In 1999, electric utilities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin emitted 1.5 million tons of NOx, which was over 25 percent of all US power plant NOx emissions.
• Existing EPA regulations are deemed insufficient because the 1998 ozone transport rule only requires summertime NOx reductions in four states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio), leaving Minnesota and Wisconsin exempt and ignoring wintertime pollution. Extending these controls year-round to all six states would reduce Midwestern NOx pollution by an additional 450,000 tons.
• NOx emissions contribute to significant public health crises in the Midwest through the formation of ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). PM2.5 is linked to approximately 6,200 premature deaths annually across the six Midwest states, with a Harvard study specifically attributing 320 excess deaths per year to just nine power plants in the Chicago area.
• Nitrogen emissions cause substantial economic and ecological damage, including annual crop losses for Midwest farmers estimated between $227.33 million and $664.28 million due to ozone exposure. Additionally, atmospheric nitrogen from the Midwest contributes significantly to the Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone', with over half of the 20 percent of total nitrogen reaching the Gulf from atmospheric sources originating in the Midwest.
• Environmental degradation includes acid rain affecting sandstone-based soils in southern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, as well as the depletion of buffering capacity in Ohio soils. Nitrogen deposition also alters nitrogen cycling in sugar maple forests from northeastern Minnesota to southwestern Michigan, potentially threatening long-term forest health.
• Technological solutions to reduce NOx emissions are readily available and cost-effective. Selective catalytic removal (SCR) systems can reduce NOx emissions from coal-fired power plant smokestacks by 90 percent or more and have been used globally since the 1980s.

APA

Baum, E. (2003). Nitrogen Oxide Emissions and Midwest Power Plants. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093528/Midwest_Nitrogen.pdf

Chicago

Baum, Ellen. Nitrogen Oxide Emissions and Midwest Power Plants. Clean Air Task Force, 2003. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093528/Midwest_Nitrogen.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Baum |first1=Ellen |title=Nitrogen Oxide Emissions and Midwest Power Plants |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=January 2003 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093528/Midwest_Nitrogen.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{baum2003nitrogen, author = {Baum, Ellen}, title = {{Nitrogen Oxide Emissions and Midwest Power Plants}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2003}, month = jan, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093528/Midwest_Nitrogen.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }