[central_va]

Carbon is a solid, and is black. Power plants do not emmit carbon. They emmit CO₂ a gas + any impuritues in the fuel.

C + O₂ = CO₂ + heat + light

Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, it is a vital nutrient for all plant life.

[LucianOfSamasota]

I was responding in the context of the article.

I don’t think Lisa Jackson, chief administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency, (whom I cited) or anyone reading the article was under the impression that combustion (or oxidation) of coal releases elemental carbon. Her quote is obviously referring to carbon contained in chemical compounds which result from combustion, i.e. CO2. But carbon contained in a chemical compound is still carbon. This is the ‘danger’ alleged by the article.

For the record, diamonds are also an allotrope of carbon, and they are not generally black.