When America burns coal to create electricity it costs about $62 Billion a year in concealed costs caused from environmental damage, not including expenditures associated with global warming so says the National Academy of Sciences.
The $62 Billion was a portion of the $120 billion they acknowledged were the sum of damages from energy usage in 2005 according to a recently published report asked for by Congress as part of new energy legislation from 2005.
The study was seeking explain and assess all expenses and benefits regarding the production, distribution and usage of energy not revealed in market prices. There is no data regarding greenhouse gas emission damages. Congress is in debate about installing restrictions on CO² and other contaminates in an effort to thwart global warming. It is felt that even though there remain some large reservations regarding estimates, it is clear the total numbers are significantly underestimated according to pundits.
Nuclear energy power plants display less damage results than fossil fueled power plants according to the study. Renewable energy supplies such as wind and solar did not produce enough adverse results compared to more widely used energy suppliers.
The study focused on airborne contaminants affecting human health, grain harvests, and timber yields, building materials, recreational activity and visibility of outdoor panoramas. Concerning health of humans, costs were based on premature death and disease.
All special interest groups had their opinions of the study. The mining Association complained about a lack of benefits mentioned for coal fired power plants. There have been numerous studies conducted that display the advantages of having air conditioning, heating and refrigeration according to an industry spokesperson.
Half the United States is powered by coal generated electricity and it is the cheapest source of electrical power available, benefiting low income persons. So say the coal people. They also mention that over the last forty years or so emission pollutants have decreased while coal power transmission has increased by three times the quantity over that period.
The environmentalists argue that when you include the cost of climate damage and other contaminants the cost would extend well beyond $120 billion.
The cost of calculating global warming damage aside, toxins such as mercury and national security concerns, the report places an astounding $120 billion annual sticker price on one year’s worth of pollution and contamination from dirty power resources. This, according to another lobbyist for environmental concerns.
“Given that the worst is yet to come for global warming the cost is actually far greater than the $120 billion,” They claimed.
They based the study data on four hundred and six coal powered plants in 2005 that embodied ninety five percent of America’s coal powered electrical sources. The collective damage of all pollutant emissions from these plants totaled $156 million per plant on average. Vehicles and the firing of transport fuels created $56 billion in damages other than those linked to climate, including our health in 2005.
Cumulative damage from natural gas production was $740 million, $1.4 million yearly per plant. According to the head of the study, he said “Failures to account for environmental damage that results from production but is not taken into account in establishing the market price of those goods or materials concerned, can lead to imprecise decision making. A case could be made for government to intervene via taxes, regulation and other means.”
President Lincoln created the National Academy of Science in 1863 as an all volunteer group of scholars to assess certain projects and subjects when asked to do so by government groups.
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