Health groups praise Obama plan on coal, saying it will save lives

Health organizations on Monday praised President Obama's plan to reduce in carbon pollution from power plants.

The new Clean Power Plan — certain to be challenged in the courts and in the Republican Congress — will require power plants to reduce carbon emissions by 32% from 2005 levels between now and 2030.

According to the White House, the coal plan will reduce premature deaths related to power plant emissions by nearly 90% in 2030, preventing 3,600 premature deaths, 90,000 asthma attacks in children and 300,000 fewer missed school and work days.  Almost one in five kids now suffer from asthma, said Harold Wimmer, national president and CEO of the American Lung Association.

Air pollution and extreme weather events increase instances of asthma, injury and cardiovascular disease — putting children, the elderly and those with chronic health conditions at greatest risk, said physician Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.

Neurologist Alan Lockwood, a senior scientist with the advocacy group Physicians for Social Responsibility, estimated that coal-fired power plants are linked to 50,000 deaths a year in the USA, and that coal contributes to four of the five leading causes of death -- heart disease, cancer, stroke and chronic respiratory disease.

While other energy sources also pose health risks, "in terms of health effects, coal is by far the worst," Lockwood said.

“Every child needs a safe environment," said physician Sandra Hassink, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "According to the World Health Organization, more than 80% of the current health burden due to the changing climate occurs in children younger than five years old. Children suffer from allergic and asthmatic diseases, the devastating effects of natural disasters, food and water insecurity and increased heat-related deaths. Children also breathe faster than adults, spend more time outside and have lungs that are still developing, making them increasingly vulnerable to the environmental effects of global climate change."

Industry groups were critical of the coal plan, arguing that there's no evidence it will reduce the number of asthma cases.

“It is shameful that the Administration and its allies feel compelled to use misleading language to attempt to build support of for its legally questionable power plan, which is about reducing carbon, not reducing asthma," said Laura Sheehan, spokeswoman for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. "Sadly, this rhetoric is nothing more than a red herring designed to hide the fact that carbon rule will not do anything to improve climate change but will result in higher electricity bills that few can afford.  With higher energy bills come tough choices about whether to keep the lights on or take needed medications, this is the true health risks associated with the administration’s regulations.”