Sierra Club Air Alerts allow you to better protect yourself and your family. Sign up to get alerts when an air quality alert is issued in your area. You will know instantly when outdoor air is polluted with harmful levels of smog.
Burning coal releases toxic mercury that rains down into rivers and streams. This poison then accumulates in the food chain, eventually making its way into our bodies when we eat contaminated fish.
In the United States, more than 40 percent of people live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution. Pollution from coal-fired power plants leads to smog (or ozone), a toxic compound and a dangerous irritant.
It's time to act now to stop carbon pollution. Carbon pollution is the main contributor to climate disruption, making extreme extreme weather worse -- including more severe floods, widespread wildfires and record drought.