Coal Based Electricity Generation Costing Australians Big – Rising electricity prices aren’t the only financial sting associated with Australia’s current power generation status quo. Coal is costing us $2.6 billion annually in terms of health states a new report.
A briefing paper prepared by the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA) and The Climate Institute says coal-fired power in Australia burdens the community with a human health cost from lung, heart, and nervous system diseases.
The report states available evidence suggests health benefits from slashing emissions could help offset the cost of emission reductions.
“One recent global study, for instance, found that for every tonne of carbon dioxide they avoid countries could save an average of $46 in health costs – around twice Australia’s starting price for carbon,” says report author and CAHA Convenor Fiona Armstrong.
Apparently, more people are killed by air pollution every year than the road toll. The 2012 OECD Environmental Outlook report warned that without appropriate action, air pollution will become the biggest cause of environmentally-related deaths worldwide by 2050.
Anyone making major claims from observational studies should point to specific papers AND provide the data sets used in those paper.