The best evidence indicates that power plants are the largest stationary source of
carbon emissions in the United States, and a major contributor to climate change.
Power plants have often been located near low-income neighborhoods and
communities of color. Air pollution from these plants contributes to health
problems, especially in the young and the elderly. These problems include:
increased risk of premature death and heart attacks; increased incidence and
severity of asthma; and other health effects. These standards would significantly
reduce carbon pollution from power plants; they would also reduce particle
pollution, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides, which have been linked to
important human and environmental health problems.