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The document details the significant contribution of Midwest power plants to US sulfur emissions, noting that coal combustion in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin releases millions of tons of sulfur dioxide annually. It emphasizes that 'grandfathered' plants exploit Clean Air Act loopholes to avoid using scrubbers, which can remove 90-95% of emissions, leading to severe health issues and environmental damage.

The document details the severe impacts of sulfur emissions from coal-fired power plants in the US Midwest, specifically Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. It links these emissions to premature deaths, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and environmental degradation including acid rain and haze. The report advocates for the adoption of sulfur-scrubbing technologies and tighter EPA air quality standards to mitigate these risks.

The report argues that 51 coal-fired power plants in the U.S. have illegally avoided modern pollution controls by exploiting a 'grandfathering' loophole in the Clean Air Act, leading to significant public health crises. Drawing on data from Abt Associates, the Clean Air Task Force estimates that these plants cause between 5,500 and 9,000 premature deaths and 107,000 to 170,000 asthma attacks annually. The report highlights a 'transport of death and disease' where pollution from plants in the Midwest and Southeast impacts the Northeast. It criticizes the Bush Administration's 2001 review of NSR policy as prioritizing industry efficiency over public health and calls for the closure of the 'lethal loophole' through nationwide emission caps on nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and carbon dioxide.

The report describes the comprehensive environmental and health impacts of coal in the United States, noting that the electric power industry is the nation's largest toxic polluter. It highlights that coal, used for over half of U.S. electricity, releases diverse toxic pollutants during mining, cleaning, transportation, generation, and disposal, affecting nearly 900 million tons of coal burned annually. These pollutants are linked to cancer, reproductive impairment, developmental issues in children, and damage to the nervous and immune systems. Additionally, the document identifies carbon dioxide emissions from power plants as the primary greenhouse gas responsible for climate change and notes that impacts vary by region, ranging from mining concerns in coal-field regions to inhalation risks in urban areas.

The report argues that coal is the 'dirtiest of all fuels' and that its entire lifecycle—mining, preparation, transport, combustion, and waste disposal—causes extensive damage to human health and ecosystems. It highlights the failure of regulatory enforcement and the disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations.

The report details the environmental and health risks associated with the disposal of over 100 million tons of annual coal and oil combustion waste in the United States. It highlights that 76 million tons are typically disposed of in unlined, unmonitored onsite lagoons and landfills, leading to groundwater contamination and ecological damage. The authors argue that current state-level regulations are inconsistent and insufficient, and that the EPA's preliminary determination to maintain a regulatory exemption for these wastes ignores significant risks to low-income communities and people of color. The document calls for federal oversight under RCRA to mandate modern environmental controls like liners and groundwater monitoring.

The report analyzes the health impacts of ground-level ozone in the Eastern United States, specifically the OTAG region, using 1997 monitoring data and epidemiological concentration-response functions. It estimates that ozone exposure led to 53,000 respiratory hospital admissions, 16,000 cardiovascular hospital admissions, and 159,000 total respiratory emergency room visits during the April-October 1997 season. The analysis highlights significant uncertainty regarding mortality and chronic illness, which were excluded from the quantitative estimates. The findings are compared with a study by the American Lung Association, showing reasonably close results for respiratory admissions.

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) contends that the EPA's proposed MACT standards for coal-fired utility units violate the Clean Air Act (CAA) by using arbitrary subcategories based on coal rank and flawed statistical methods to inflate emission floors. CATF argues that the EPA has ignored available, cost-effective technologies—such as activated carbon injection and fabric filters—that could achieve significantly higher mercury removal rates. The document further asserts that the EPA is legally obligated to regulate all HAPs emitted by these units, not just mercury and nickel, and that proposed compliance extensions are unauthorized and unnecessary given available labor and equipment resources.

The document contends that the EPA lacks the legal authority under sections 111 and 112 of the Clean Air Act to implement nationwide emission trading for hazardous air pollutants. It argues that these sections mandate uniform, source-specific performance standards rather than a tradeable allowance system. The author further claims that the EPA's approach is arbitrary and capricious because it fails to adequately address the risk of localized mercury 'hotspots' and includes flawed program elements, such as a 'safety valve' provision and exemptions for small emitters, which could delay the installation of pollution controls and maintain high emission levels.

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) asserts that the EPA's proposed MACT regulations for utility units lack rigorous economic analysis and fail to protect children from mercury risks. By modeling an 'Alternate Mercury Control Scenario' using the EPA's own Integrated Planning Model (IPM), CATF demonstrates that more stringent mercury emission limits are cost-effective, providing substantial health benefits—specifically avoided premature deaths from PM2.5 exposure—that far outweigh the incremental costs to the power sector. The document further claims the EPA misled the public regarding its compliance with Executive Order 13045 concerning environmental health risks to children.

The report argues that the current fragmented system of mandatory standards, voluntary labeling, and energy guides creates marketplace confusion. It recommends replacing the binary ENERGY STAR system and the FTC Energy Guide with a unified, multi-tiered 'bin' or 'star' rating system (one to four stars) to better differentiate 'best in class' products. Additionally, it suggests modifying the 'rebuttable presumption' for economic justification of standards to be based on a percentage of an appliance's service life rather than a flat three-year period, granting DOE authority for 'smart grid' requirements, and mandating that federal procurement focus on top-tier (three or four star) products to drive market scale and lower costs.

The document analyzes the EPA's April 17, 2012, rules for new oil and gas drilling, which mandate 'Reduced Emissions Completion' (REC) technology and modern equipment for pneumatic controllers and compressors to lower methane and VOC emissions. While the EPA estimates these rules will reduce methane emissions by 0.9 to 1.6 million tons per year, the author argues the rules are insufficient because they fail to directly regulate methane, include implementation delays, and ignore significant sources such as well clean-up, fracked oil wells, and existing infrastructure leaks.

The document analyzes the climate impact of Arctic oil and gas production, focusing on short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs) like methane and black carbon. It details emission sources—such as associated gas flaring, venting from storage tanks, and diesel engine exhaust—and proposes mitigation strategies including vapor recovery units, diesel particulate filters, and the use of ultra-low sulfur diesel. The paper emphasizes that while some technologies are standard in lower latitudes, Arctic implementation faces higher costs and infrastructure challenges.

The report examines the transition of global shipping to zero-carbon fuels, specifically hydrogen and ammonia. It identifies a 'chicken-and-egg' dilemma where infrastructure investment depends on demand, and demand depends on supply. The analysis evaluates several major ports—including Rotterdam, Jebel Ali, Los Angeles, Houston, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong—based on their trade connectivity, technological capacity for fuel production, and policy support. It concludes that while blue hydrogen is currently the most realistic large-scale production pathway, green hydrogen is promising in regions with cheap renewables like the UAE and Australia. The report recommends establishing trans-oceanic coalitions, partnering fuel suppliers with shipping companies along major trade routes, and leveraging public finance to de-risk infrastructure investments.

The methodology note describes how the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) models unit-level emissions and resulting health impacts for coal plants slated for retirement between 2025 and 2028. It details the data sources used, the cumulative nature of the map results, and the user-adjustable emission levels provided in the tool.

The report argues for a 'fair share' approach to renewable energy siting to replace traditional state-level preemption, which often burdens rural communities. It outlines core principles—such as allowing communities to opt out after meeting a state-assigned target and ensuring all regions contribute—and analyzes how similar mandates in affordable housing (e.g., in Massachusetts and New Jersey) have increased supply despite local resistance. The authors identify key differences between energy and housing, such as the larger physical footprint and specific resource potential of energy projects, and provide a roadmap for policy design and implementation.

The document examines the challenges of accounting for fossil CO2 used in non-permanent products (like plastics and fuels) in the EU ETS. It compares a 'final emitter pays' (downstream) approach, which avoids double pricing but risks emissions leakage, against a 'capture installation pays' (upstream) approach, which is the current system but risks double pricing if MWI is included. The authors recommend including MWI in the ETS by 2028 and suggest specific safeguards for either accounting path to maintain environmental integrity.

The document details CATF's costing approach for CCS retrofits, which utilizes a standalone gas-fired auxiliary boiler for steam to avoid coal plant heat rate penalties, contrasting this with the IPM platform v6's integrated approach. It provides specific capital and operational cost data for 200 MW and 400 MW coal retrofits, as well as NGCC retrofits, noting that while IPM costs favor very large plants through economies of scale, the CATF approach is more favorable for 400 MW units.

The document outlines how states can leverage billions of dollars in federal funding to support the transition to zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs). It categorizes funding opportunities into manufacturing, procurement, charging infrastructure, workforce development, emissions monitoring, and state planning, providing specific program details, eligibility, and strategic next steps for state officials.

The report argues that traditional electricity burden assessments undercount the financial strain on businesses by ignoring 'extra costs'—expenses for generators, voltage stabilizers, and alternative energy used to mitigate power outages and fluctuations. Using 2015 survey data from 1,002 grid-connected firms in Benin, the study introduces three metrics (EB1, EB2, EB3) to distinguish between burdens caused by bills alone and those driven by defensive costs. Findings show that extra costs account for 44% of total electricity expenditure and that 60% of businesses face an electricity burden when these costs are included, compared to 55% when only bills are considered. The authors recommend that policymakers in Benin and Sub-Saharan Africa incorporate these defensive costs into policy design, prioritize grid reliability infrastructure, and provide targeted financial support for vulnerable groups, particularly informal sector businesses.