To think that when I turn on a light switch in my home in Northeast Ohio, that it's more likely than ever that someone in New York, New England or the U.S. Justice Department notices. This is a frightening thought, but one that is exactly true. The turning on of that light switch sets in motion a series of events that for years has killed certain native fish and harmed trees hundreds of miles from the source.
             To make the electricity that brightens our rooms, runs our refrigerators or blow-dries our hair, power plants in Ohio burn thousands of tons of coal daily. Pollutants go up smokestacks that are some of the tallest structures in our state, reaching up to 1,000 feet. It used to be thought that if the stacks were high enough it wouldn't hurt anything. But these smokestacks just act like cannons, shooting most of the damaging particles safely away from Ohio. These particles mix with moisture in the clouds, creating acid rain. This combination of chemicals and moisture then falls to the ground as rain, snow, sleet and fog somewhere else and causes problems there instead of where it was produced.
             Not only does the burning coal lead to acid rain, but it also contaminates are streams and rivers with mercury. The acid rain causes a higher than normal pH level in streams and rivers which in turn kills or harms many different native species of fish. There are other factors associated with burning coal like ground-level smog, soot and global warming.
             All of these factors make coal-burning power plants number one on the environmental public enemy list. "Two decades ago, coal-burning plants were one of about 50 major sources of pollution," said Kevin Snape, who heads the Clean Air Conservancy of Cleveland. "We have gotten rid of the other 49. These are the last of the dinosaurs."
             In late February, the Supreme Court upheld stricter federal rules for smog and soot despite what it would cost po
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