Air pollution has been linked to increased asthma rates, bronchitis, blood clots, lung cancer, weakened immune systems, and premature death. The vast majority of this pollution is from the combustion of fossil fuels, which creates tiny particles in the air like ozone (O3), also called smog; and particulate matter (PM2.5), also known as soot. A recent study shows that a staggering 460,000 U.S. deaths between 1999 - 2020 are attributable to air pollution from coal plants alone.
Since 2010, the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign has been advocating for utilities to control emissions from their coal plants or retire them and replace them with clean energy. This work has resulted in tangible local public health benefits.
However, the coal plants that remain today still have an outsized burden on public health. This burden is a function of the emissions from coal plants as well as wind patterns and population density downwind. In 2022, Sierra Club published a detailed analysis of the impacts of soot pollution across counties and demographics. The updated analysis below, using new data provided by Clean Air Task Force, shows one of the most detailed assessments of the direct impacts of soot and smog pollution from coal plants to date.
- Exposure to air pollution from coal plants caused over 6,500 U.S. deaths in 2024;
- Just 15 companies own half of America’s operating coal capacity and are responsible for over 60% of these deaths;
- Impacts are widely distributed - on average, just two percent of deaths from coal-fired power plant emissions occur in the county where the plant is located, and just under a quarter of deaths even occur in the same state.
The interactive tool below shows the extent and impact of air pollution from the country’s coal-fired power plants; which plants cause the most harm, who owns those plants, and which communities are most affected. Use the filters to find out which coal plants are impacting you.
Functionality is limited on mobile devices. For the full dashboard, access from a desktop browser.
