We are closer than ever before to cleaning up four of Maryland’s dirtiest coal plants, and we need your help to finish what we started.
After years of delay, the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) is poised to require that all of Maryland’s coal-fired power plants meet stringent pollution limits that will protect Maryland families from smog and toxic sulfur dioxide. But the coal lobby is stepping up its opposition, and we need to fight back to help MDE protect the health of our families.
The DC-Baltimore region has the worst smog pollution in the East (1). This summer the weather was merciful, but Marylanders still experienced four Code Orange air alert days -- days when smog pollution reached unsafe levels for people with respiratory problems (2). That’s four days too many for over half a million people in Maryland who suffer from asthma.
The MDE has the power to make our air safer to breathe by limiting pollution from coal-fired power plants in the state, but they're under heavy pressure from the coal industry to pass weak limits in September that will continue to put our health at risk.
Please contribute today to our efforts to hold Governor O’Malley’s administration up to the high environmental standards it espouses.
Virginia, Kentucky, and even West Virginia have already required their coal-fired power plants to install these modern pollution controls. It’s time for Maryland to catch up, and clean up. Because every day, the people who live around those plants suffer the real costs in asthma inhalers and emergency room visits.
Your gift of $100 or $50 today allows our activists to reach more citizens in order to make sure the upcoming MDE decision is as good as it can be.
For more information and for ways to get involved, check our webpage.
Footnotes:
1.) Most Polluted Cities: State of the Air 2014, American Lung Association, 2014