Extreme Power Plant Fear Mongering
22 hours ago Guest Blogger
Roger Caiazza
The Applied Economics Clinic (AEC) report titled ”A Community Assessment of Health Impacts from the Pittsfield Generating Facility on Local Communities”, prepared on behalf of the Massachusetts Clean Peak Coalition has to be in the running for the most egregious example of inflammatory peaker power plant fear-mongering of all time. This post compares the claims against reality.
Environmental non-governmental organizations have latched onto peaking power plants as an example of power company greed and disregard for neighboring communities. For example, the PEAK coalition has stated that “Fossil peaker plants in New York City are perhaps the most egregious energy-related example of what environmental injustice means today.” The influence of this position on current environmental policy has led to this issue finding its way into multiple environmental initiatives. However, I have found that the presumption of egregious harm is based on selective choice of metrics, poor understanding of air quality health impacts, and ignorance of air quality trends. The AEC report takes the claims to ridiculous levels.
The AEC report example is extreme even compared to the Peak coalition accusations. Researcher Jordan Burt, Assistant Researcher Elisabeth Seliga, Researcher Tanya Stasio, PhD, Research Assistant Lila McNamee, and Principal Economist Liz Stanton, PhD, prepared a report that summarizes the negative health impacts of fossil fuel-fired emissions on communities living near the Pittsfield Generating Facility (Figure 1). They claim that the facility exacerbates negative health outcomes of overburdened residents and asserts there are three key takeaways:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/03/02/extreme-power-plant-fear-mongering/
