The Lung Association advocates for stronger measures to clean up pollution from power plants, with the ultimate goal of switching to clean, non-combustion electricity. These measures are critical for cleaning up air pollution and for addressing climate change.
The burning of fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal at power plants emits a host of harmful air pollutants such as particulate matter, mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, as well as greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide that drive climate change such as. Burning other fuels in power plants besides fossil fuels, such as biomass or trash, produces harmful emissions too. Learn more about the health impacts of power plant emissions.
The switch to clean electricity will have enormous health benefits. The Lung Association’s series of reports, starting with “Zeroing In on Healthy Air,” tally the health harms that would be avoided if the nation transitioned to 100% clean, non-combustion electricity, coupled with zero-emission transportation. In total, that transition would save 110,000 lives with health benefits totaling $1.2 trillion. Learn more.
Power plants are also increasingly connected to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers. AI systems rely on energy-intensive data centers, and the rapid growth of these facilities is driving significant increases in electricity demand. Data centers accounted for approximately 4.4% of total U.S. electricity use in 2023, and that share is projected to rise to between 6.7% and 12% by 2028. This surge in energy demand threatens progress toward cleaner air if it results in coal plants staying online longer, new gas plants being built or dormant fossil fuel facilities being reopened. Data centers also frequently rely on diesel generators for backup power, which can increase local air pollution when generators are operated during testing, periods of high demand or outages.
The scale of energy required to power data centers also presents an opportunity to accelerate investment in clean, non-combustion electricity and energy efficiency. Data centers should be powered by clean energy that adds new clean capacity to the grid, rather than drawing existing clean electricity away from other users and increasing reliance on fossil fuels elsewhere. Communities must also have a strong voice in decisions about where and how data centers are built. Robust permitting, public engagement, strong emissions controls and transparency around backup power use are essential to protecting public health.
In April 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced tighter limits on mercury and other toxic emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants and rules to limit carbon emissions from existing coal-fired power plants and future gas-fired power plants. Those protections were an important step toward curbing toxic power plant pollution and the carbon pollution that is driving the climate crisis. However, EPA has since finalized a repeal of certain 2024 updates to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and is moving to repeal power plant carbon pollution standards. The Lung Association opposes rollbacks that would allow more harmful pollution and continues to call for strong federal, state and local protections to clean up power plants, protect communities near polluting facilities and move the nation toward clean, non-combustion electricity. Learn more.
Page last updated: August 17, 2026
