We’re No. 1! We’re No. 1! (at killing the planet)

We should all be so proud. Georgians, always looking to jump into the world’s spotlight, now can claim to be home to the continent’s dirtiest power plant, according to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, an international organization created by Canada, Mexico and the United States under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Folks from the Commission looked at 1998 air pollution data in the U.S. and Canada and concluded that Georgia Power’s Plant Bowen in Cartersville emitted more vile filth than any other electric plant in North America.

Things don’t seem to have improved much; in 2000, Bowen spewed 155,374 tons of acid rain-forming sulphur dioxide and 43,427 tons of nitrogen oxide, a key component of ground level ozone, according to MSB & Associates, an environmental research firm.

Just goes to show, if you put your mind to it (and fight air pollution standards), you really can be No. 1.??