Power plants burning coal, oil, and natural gas emit pollution that harms the climate and human health.

Novinska-Lois: “We know that … people are made sick from fossil fuel exposure.”

Abby Novinska-Lois is with Healthy Climate Wisconsin, a group of health care professionals pushing for climate action.

The group partnered on a recent report about the health impacts of two proposed gas plants in Wisconsin.

It shows that over 30 years, pollution from these plants would contribute to hundreds of premature deaths, and increase the risk of heart attacks, new asthma cases, and ER visits.

The harm would be most pronounced in areas near the facilities. But pollution particles carried by the wind can also worsen air quality far away.

Novinska-Lois: “Air pollution knows no borders … so we’ll see a lot of pollution in Michigan and then almost all of the northeastern United States experiencing health impacts from it.”

Natural gas is sometimes promoted as a clean alternative to coal. But Novinska-Lois says the research shows that moving from coal to gas is not a good solution for people’s health.

Novinksa-Lois: “It’s going to continue to harm our lives and the ability for communities to thrive … and we really need to be moving towards clean energy.”

Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media