02-22-2003, 03:04 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-22-2003, 03:04 PM by TriggerHappy.)
kandrathe,Feb 21 2003, 08:46 PM Wrote:Out of the entire US electric industry, coal-fired power plants contribute 96% of sulfur dioxide emissions (SO2), 93% of nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx), 88% of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) and 99% of mercury emissions.
These statistics, if correct, are insane.
Why aren't coal-fired plants being converted into more enviromentally friendly ways of producing energy? Such as, for example, nuclear power.
Are these same people that oppose nuclear power due to it's enviromental pollution (just how much do nuclear reactors pollute compared to other means?) simply blind to other, much more dangerous sources of pollution?
You'd think with coal plants contributing that much pollution, their replancement would go along way towards creating an enviromentally friendly economy.
Is this a political issue? Is it simply impossible to "touch" coal plants?
*shakes head*
Or this simply not that big a deal and the entire US electrical industry just doesn't contribute all that much pollution (especially compared with automobiles)?
Would love if someone helped me understand just what is going on in the US in regards to the above statistics.