Pennsylvania's Current Energy Sources:

Pennsylvania currently gets nearly 60% of its electricity from coal-fired power plants. The environmental impact of such sources is severe and is a serious problem for the health of Pennsylvania residents. There are many ways in which emissions from coal-power plants adversely impact the environment:

• Coal mining can dramatically alter landscapes and produce high volumes of waste.
• Coal must be transported from mines to power plants. The diesel trains that carry the coal produce thousands of pounds of pollution.
• The coal dust that enters the air during coal's transportation and storage irritates the lungs and contaminates land and water.
• A coal-fired power plant draws large volumes of water each year from nearby water bodies to create steam to turn its turbines.
• When this water is drawn into the power plant, fish eggs, fish larvae, and juvenile and adult fish may also come along with it and be killed.
• Once the water has cycled through the coal-fired power plant, it is released back into the lake, river, or ocean.
• This water is hotter than the water that receives it. This thermal pollution can decrease fertility and increase heart rates in fish.
• Typically, power plants add chlorine and other toxic chemicals to their cooling water to decrease algae growth. Thesechemicals are discharged back into the environment.

The burning of coal releases many hazardous chemicals. In an average year, a typical coal plant generates:

• 3,700,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary human cause of global warming.
• 10,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), which causes acid rain and forms small airborne particles that can penetrate deep into lungs.
• 500 tons of small airborne particles, which can cause chronic bronchitis and aggravate asthma.
• 10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx), which leads to the formation of smog
• 720 tons of carbon monoxide (CO), which causes headaches and place additional stress on people with heart disease.
• 220 tons of hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds (VOC), which form ozone.
• 170 pounds of mercury, where just 1/70th of a teaspoon in a 25-acre lake can make the fish unsafe to eat.
• 225 pounds of arsenic, 114 pounds of lead, 4 pounds of cadmium, other toxic heavy metals, and trace amounts of uranium

Wind power, on the other hand, creates NO POLLUTION!

Economic Benefits of Wind Power

The U.S. Department of Energy has concluded that Pennsylvania has the potential to get 30% of its energy from wind power. The development of wind as a significant source of power would not only reduce the state's reliance on coal, but would also have a positive economic impact. The building and maintaining of wind farms creates jobs and revenue for landowners, farmers, and local communities.

• One wind turbine takes up only ¼ acre of land, including access roads. Farming, ranching, forestry, and other land use can continue on land occupied by wind turbines.
• Farmers and rural landowners can benefit from wind energy in many ways, including generating their own power, leasing land to wind developers, and becoming wind developers themselves.
• Landowners can earn more than $2000 a year for each wind turbine installed on their property.
• The Renewable Energy Policy Project (REPP) estimates that every megawatt of installed wind capacity creates about 4.8 job-years of employment, both direct (manufacturing, construction, operations) and indirect (advertising, office support, etc.). This means that a 50-MW wind farm creates 240 job-years of employment.
• The American Wind Energy Association states that, watt-for-watt, wind power creates more jobs than any other energy technology.
• Wind power is the most rapidly growing source of energy in the world, increasing 20 percent per year since 1990.
• Wind, the fuel of wind power, is free. Therefore the cost of power is not affected by the fluctuations of global markets such as those for fossil fuels.

Wind Power In Pennsylvania

Wind energy is quickly becoming a booming industry in Pennsylvania. By early 2004, seven wind farms totaling over 148 megawatts of power will be built in Pennsylvania, making the State the leader in the Eastern United States for wind development. And progress will continue with another 249 MW of additional projects anticipated in the next two years. This commitment dramatically reduces Pennsylvania's dependence on coal and other dirty forms of power and will have outstanding environmental benefits.

Until recently, Pennsylvania wind power has primarily been offered to businesses, governments, universities and other large energy consumers. (Click here to see some of the organizations that have chosen to support wind power in PA.) The success of these offerings has led to the offering of wind energy to residential consumers through programs such as PECO WIND (sm). Now you too can become part of the growing investment in Pennsylvania wind!

Clean Air Council urges its members to buy wind energy

Wind energy is now an option for all Pennsylvanians. Energy production is one of the largest sources of pollution, and choosing a clean, reliable, and affordable alternative to the traditional, dirty power sources is one of the best ways for a consumer to help protect the environment. Every purchase of wind energy brings us closer to a clean, sustainable future.