1996

Launched U.S. Power Plant Pollution Campaign

In our first year, CATF co-founded and led the U.S. Power Plant Pollution Campaign, designed to reduce pollution from power plants. We catalyzed state-based campaigns with state environmental organization partners across the country (especially in coal heartland, where the biggest health damage occurs) to urge state and federal action; commissioned and publicized first-of-a-kind epidemiological studies of coal plant health impacts; and, working closely with attorneys general from affected states, pursued an aggressive federal rule-making campaign and state legislative agenda to force the issue in Congress and the EPA.

Our efforts put coal plants on the path toward significantly reducing their emissions, saving nearly 13,000 lives per year and helping hundreds of thousands of people avoid illness. As co-founder and leader of the U.S. Power Plant Pollution Campaign, CATF helped reduce power plant emissions from smog and soot by more than 70%, and air toxics by over 85%.