Sierra Club Tool Highlights Impact of Utah’s Coal Plants on Public Health

Salt Lake City - Today, Sierra Club released a new web tool that shows the deadly impacts of coal-fired power plants on Americans' health. The updated Out of Control: The Deadly Impact of Coal Pollution - 2026 web tool provides county by county, plant by plant, and utility by utility data on the severe negative health effects of air pollution from coal-fired power plants.

In Utah, the PacifiCorp owned Hunter and Huntington coal plants contribute to an estimated 16 deaths per year from coal air pollution. Under Berkshire Hathaway Energy's leader, PacifiCorp has engaged in a well-documented, decades-long fight against modern day pollution controls at these plants that would significantly curb public health impacts.

Since 2025, the Trump administration has slashed even more public health protections and prolonged coal plant operations, which will lead to more pollution and exacerbate the health impacts of coal. In January, the Trump administration also announced that it would stop considering the cost to public health when making future decisions.

Coal is the dirtiest form of energy production and its emissions into the air and water cause illnesses like asthma, heart attacks, developmental delays, neurological disorders, and cancer, and it can lead to premature death. Despite overwhelming evidence of the deadly impact of coal, the Trump administration has worked to bolster the industry by giving away handouts with taxpayer dollars, illegal bailouts, and gutting longstanding health protections to allow coal companies to cut corners.

In response, Sierra Club Senior Campaign Organizer Luis Miranda issued the following statement:

"EPA has shown that it isn't interested in doing its job to protect communities from toxic emissions, instead enabling polluters like PacifiCorp to double down and emit without consequence by gutting the public health protections that keep coal plants in check. While billion-dollar companies like PacifiCorp rake in dollars, our communities get sicker. Clean air and water is a basic human right, one that regulators should be doing everything to defend."

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