Top U.S. Polluters Closely Tied to Bush Fundraising, Policymaking

The nation's top polluters, as measured in terms of mercury, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, are power plants owned by corporations that are tightly allied with the Bush Administration in terms of both campaign contributions and pollution policymaking, according to a new study from two nonprofit and nonpartisan groups, the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and Public Citizen. The report concludes that sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide pollution rose from 2002 to 2003, posing higher risks to Americans in terms of asthma attacks, lung ailments, premature death and, in the case of mercury, heightened risk of neurological damage to children. The new report, entitled America's 'Dirtiest Power Plants: Plugged into the Bush Administration,' ranks the top 50 polluting power plants for three pollutants. While the power plants represent only about 5 percent of the more than 1,000 such facilities in the U.S., the worst offenders dominate the industry's problem emissions: 43 percent of sulfur dioxide pollution; 31 percent of CO2 pollution; and 43 percent of mercury pollution. Since 1999, the 30 biggest utility companies owning the majority of the 89 dirtiest power plants examined in the study have poured $6.6 million into the coffers of the Bush presidential […]

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