Hundreds of New Yorkers could be healthier if the city reduced its electric use by 15 percent, according to a new report.
The city would save more than $1 billion in health costs and slash the number of asthma attacks and other harmful health effects of air pollution from power plants.
That’s the finding of a new report called Saving Energy, Saving Lives: The Health Impacts of Avoiding Power Plant Pollution with Energy Efficiency, a new report released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and Physicians for Social Responsibility that looks at the impact of energy efficiency on US states and cities.
According to the report, reducing annual electricity use by 15 percent nationwide would save more than six lives every day, prevent nearly 30,000 asthma episodes each year, and save Americans up to $20 billion through avoided health harms annually.
Here’s how: When people and businesses save energy, less energy needs to be produced; the result is less power plant pollution. The money saved by reducing this pollution and the harmful health effects it causes would be enough to pay the annual health insurance premiums for nearly 3.6 million families, according to the report.
“The health effects of power plant pollution are well known, and our new research shows where energy efficiency can produce the most substantial public health benefits by reducing that pollution,” said Sara Hayes, ACEEE program manager for health and environment.
“Wind patterns, the complexity of the electric grid, and other variables influence where health benefits crop up. This means that public health benefits will be greatest when cities and states work together to reduce energy waste.”
“The health benefits available from energy efficiency are impressive,” said Barbara Gottlieb, director for environment and health at Physicians for Social Responsibility.
“Air pollution from power plants contributes to four of the leading causes of death in the United States: cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, heart disease, and stroke. We can use energy efficiency to save lives and help slow global warming. Those benefits are going to be felt now and for decades into the future.”
Specifically, Saving Energy, Saving Lives examines the potential avoided health harms — including heart attacks, respiratory illnesses and symptoms, premature deaths, and emergency room visits to treat asthma — that could be achieved with a 15 percent reduction in electricity use across the country.
Using two US Environmental Protection Agency modeling tools to identify how much pollution would be avoided and to estimate potential health impacts, the report ranks states and the 50 largest cities by their potential health benefits.
The ranking of cities, based on the dollar value of avoided health harms, shows that New York City would see the greatest benefits — more than $1 billion in avoided health harms — over a one-year period, followed by Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Detroit. Washington, DC, Cleveland, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area are next on the list, with Cincinnati and Atlanta rounding out the top ten.
