One of the main problems presented by the new units is the health impact of coal combustion on the citizens of Silesia region. The investment area is characterised by bad air quality. On 21st November 2011, the European Commission sued Poland in the European Court of Justice for lack of progress in its implementation of the Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe (CAFE) Directive (2008/50/EC), which should have been implemented in Poland by the 11th of June 2010. The directive requires in particular that the PM10 (larger dust particles) level does not exceed 50 miligrams/m³ more than 35 times a year. However this PM10 level is breached with much higher frequency in many Polish metropolitan areas including Jaworzno and Rybnik in the Silesia region. Recently a group of residents of Rybnik have taken the Polish state to court over the bad air quality and the lack of clear plans to improve the situation in the foreseeable future. Protests over poor air quality have already led to changes in the regional legislation in the neighbouring Malopolskie Voivoship and its capital, Krakow.

The local health impacts from coal mining, transportation and combustion are also a significant concern, and communities living in proximity to these activities are experiencing adverse social impacts, such as displacement, and loss of social capital as well as facing increased risks of respiratory disease, heart disease, and lung cancer. Moreover use of large quantities of forest biomass can result in price increases and negative impacts on other sectors including paper, furniture and construction. As the power sector "sucks out" almost all available biomass from the market, smaller CHP and heating plants which could take advantage of local biomass potential are more likely to refrain from adjusting these plants to co-firing.

In addition, burning coal causes health related problems related to coal ash and air pollution. The plant also contributes to the region becoming ‘locked in' to coal-based energy production for the next 40-50 years, making the shift to a renewable energy based society all the more difficult. Construction of the new Rybnik unit would prolong the dependence of the Silesia region on coal, potentially leading to new investments into coal mining. This increases the risk of ‘stranded assets' as the requirements of climate and energy policy place ever-increasing pressure on the coal-based energy generation.

Both the Polish constitution and European Union legislation guarantee the right to live in a clean environment, and the quality of the air that citizens breathe every day is part of that right. The local health impacts from coal mining, transportation and combustion are also a significant concern, and communities living in proximity to these activities experience adverse social impacts including displacement and loss of social capital, as well as facing increased risks of respiratory disease, heart disease, and lung cancer.

Burning coal is one of the most polluting methods of energy production. It causes significant changes to air quality through emissions of toxic substances such as SO2, NOx, small and large dust particles (PM10 and PM2.5) and heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium. Coal burning is also the largest single contributor to GHG emissions worldwide and thus has an impact on the climate of the region and the planet. Coal mining and coal combustion also cause serious water shortages and pollution both by modifying ground and subterranean water flows and sewage discharges that affect river and sea flora and fauna.

One of the most serious secondary effects of pollution from coal combustion is ocean acidification and acid rains. The Silesia region and Rybnik city itself are already struggling with chronically poor air conditions, and the new unit would do little to improve this situation. In fact replacing the ageing units 1 to 4 with small renewables based co-generation heat and power plants and drastically improving thermal efficiency of the buildings in Rybnik and Silesia region as a whole would lead both to the improvement of the air quality in the region as well as to increase of energy security and employment opportunities.

The full costs of energy generated from coal are not fully accounted for. For example, a series of subsidies are still provided to the coal sector in Poland, at both local and national levels.

In the case of the Rybnik power plant the decision of the city council of Rybnik exempted EDF's investment from real estate tax, while coal and biomass co-firing falls under the definition of renewable energy and thus receives direct state support in the form of green certificates.

In 2011 over 50% of "renewable energy" produced in Poland originated from co-firing and EDF was by far the biggest beneficiary. Additionally EDF will receive a part of its CO₂ emission allowances in the period 2013-2019 for its power plants in Poland instead of having to purchase them on auctions, and is listed as a company that will be exempted from having to apply the Industrial Emissions Directive for all of its Polish power plants from 1st January 2016. All these subsidies distort the ability of the financial sector to take investment decisions based on unbiased economic calculations.