The high, hidden costs of low-down, dirty coal

Is your JEA bill getting higher and higher every month? Well, that big number followed by a dollar sign is only telling part of the story of the true cost of Jacksonville's coal-fired power plants. Here is a key excerpt from a recent article in The Washington Post:

"According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a scientific advocacy group, annual emissions from a typical coal plant include 10,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, the major cause of acid rain; 10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide, a major contributor to smog; 500 tons of small particles, which cause lung damage and other respiratory problems; 225 pounds of arsenic; 114 pounds of lead; and many other toxic heavy metals, including 170 pounds of mercury, which can cause birth defects, brain damage and other ailments."

And that's just the local coasts of coal. From coalminers' lives to destroyed streams and forests in Appalachia, coal is expensive indeed. Click here to read Jeff Goodell's full article about measuring the true coast of coal, "King Coal: What It Costs Us."