A grassroots coalition is claiming

that Atlanta's air, including Fayette County's, is getting dirtier because

of the region's power plants.

Clean Up Southern Company,

a group with more than 130 members, released a report Thursday, saying

the power plants in Georgia are becoming "dramatically dirtier."

The report, "Darkening

Skies: Trends Towards Increasing Power Plant Emissions" that Georgia

is one of the worst states when it comes to power plant emissions.

"Emissions of smog-forming

nitrogen oxides are up a staggering 12,399 tons from 1995," said

Roger Smith, coordinator of the group.

According to the group's report,

hundreds of power plants emit more pollution today and Fayette County

is not meeting the 1997 ozone standard because of nearby Plant Yates in

Coweta County.

The report said the Yates plant

had the greatest increase in sulfur dioxide pollution in the state, with

more than 24,000 tons in the last four years.

Yates is also taken to task

for having one of the highest nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emission

increases.

"This report highlights

our nation's dirty and dangerous dependence on coal," said Stephanie

Bonin, Clean Energy Organizer of Georgia Public Interest Research Group.

"We are relying on outdated technology while the alternatives and

solutions of renewable power are effective and obtainable."

One of the reports final findings

is the absence of mandatory limits on carbon dioxide has resulted in a

sharp rise in total emissions of the gas, which forms a heat-trapping

blanket in the atmosphere that leads to global warming.

But Southern Company spokesperson

Tiffany Gilstrap believes the group is being very "selective"

in interpreting the data.

"Based on the report we

saw, emissions are down significantly from 1990. They're being selective

in using a baseline of 1995 for a lot of their conclusions," she

said.

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