(ASHEVILLE) -- Air pollution in North Carolina is some of the worst in the country. The Natural Resources Defense Council ranks the state 10th on its "Toxic 20" list.

Ashley Featherstone with the Western North Carolina Regional Air Quality Agency says a big reason the state is so high is that most of our power plants burn coal. She says while the state has made an effort in recent years to curb air pollution, burning coal is still a dirty way to do business.

Featherstone says between 2003 and 2009 mercury emissions in the state were cut in half. She says since the Clean Smokestacks Act, emissions at Progress Energy's plant on Lake Julian in Asheville have been cut by 70 percent.