The 100th Coal Plant Milestone

This is the weekly blog post from Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.

As of today, 100 coal plants have been defeated or abandoned since the beginning of the coal rush. Late yesterday, news came down that Utah-based Intermountain Power Agency is abandoning plans for a third coal-fired generator in the state.

This news comes as President Obama is at the G8 summit in Italy discussing action on global warming. As other countries like China say they will not act until the U.S. does, these 100 stopped plants are a sign from Americans. We are taking action against global warming, and it’s time to join us.

This also comes just a week after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the city would end coal use by 2020, and was announced the same day as a decision by Basin Electric Power in South Dakota to pull plans for a new coal-fired power plant. The decision marks a significant milestone in the shift to clean energy.

Since the first coal-fired power plant started operation in the U.S. more than 100 years ago our country has been wedded to dirty coal power.  Despite the availability of affordable, cleaner energy alternatives, there were still plans on the drawing board for more than 150 new coal-fired power plants as recently as last year.

We are seeing a movement. That movement has kept well over 400 million tons of harmful global warming pollution out of the air, making significant progress in the fight against global warming. Stopping 100 new coal plants has also kept thousands of tons of asthma causing soot and smog pollution, as well as toxins like mercury out of our air and water.

This milestone also marks a significant shift in the way Americans are looking at our energy choices. Cities, states, businesses and electric utilities are all moving away from the polluting coal power of the past.

At the beginning of the coal rush, which came out of the Bush-Cheney energy plan of 2001, it seemed inevitable that most of the 150 new proposed coal plants would get built. Since then we’ve seen an incredible change in the way people, businesses and governments are thinking about energy–figuring out how to generate and use it more cleanly and efficiently. Coal is no longer the only option. We can and are creating jobs and electricity through clean energy technology made in America.

Tremendous grassroots pressure by the Sierra Club and others, rising costs, and upcoming federal carbon regulations all contributed to the demise of the 100 plants. Volunteers with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign worked on the ground in almost every state to fight local coal plant proposals, turning out to public hearings, holding rallies and meeting with officials to push for cleaner energy options for their area.

Instead of being locking into new coal plants we now have an opportunity to develop the clean energy technologies, like wind, that will help repower, rebuild and refuel America.

In many places a shift to wind energy is now well underway. Numbers out from the American Wind Energy Association show that last year over 8,000 MW of new generating capacity was added—that’s 42% of all the new power producing capacity in the U.S., and the equivalent of seven new large coal plants. Employing over 85,000 people, up from 50,000 a year ago, the wind industry for the first time created more jobs than coal mining, proving that new coal plants are not the only option for job creation, economic stimulus and power production.

We are also seeing a sea-change at the federal level. President Obama and his administration are clearly making strides for a clean energy economy. The Environmental Protection Agency has declared global warming pollution a threat to public health and welfare, the Interior Department is pushing for renewable energy development, and more. Even Congress is moving forward with a clean energy bill.

Obstacles still remain, though. The coal industry continues to push forward plans for dozens of new plants and is still pouring money into slick advertising campaigns and lobbying efforts to weaken the energy bill in Congress. Even in some of the top wind producing states, like Texas, coal companies are pushing for new plants, insisting that coal is the only viable option despite obvious evidence to the contrary.

This must stop. Coal is not part of our country’s clean energy future. Big Coal deserves no more free rides and loopholes. Their greed has gone too far. They store toxic coal ash waste in unsafe facilities. They push for weaker pollution regulations at all levels, claiming the opposite will bankrupt their industry.

The 100 dead coal-fired power plants are a message from Americans. We don’t want dirty power from a greedy industry looking to skirt the rules. We want clean energy that will boost the economy, create jobs and reduce our global warming pollution. Let’s keep up the fight!

Our dependence on dirty sources of energy – like oil and coal – threatens our health, our economy and the future of our great outdoors.  While we work alongside President Obama and leaders in Congress to build a clean energy economy, oil and coal companies are fighting us every step of the way.

Together, we can stop them. President Obama has a plan that would put thousands of Minnesotans to work building wind-farms, installing solar panels and developing energy efficient homes.  We can create jobs and cut global warming pollution.

President Obama has called for a clean energy revolution. Reps. Henry Waxman, Ed Markey and other leaders in Congress are working to deliver on that promise through the American Clean Energy and Security Act, the bill that we hope will drive the creation of a clean energy economy and cap the pollution that’s causing global warming.

The bill isn’t perfect. But it does reduce the pollution that’s fueling global warming, drive the transition towards a clean energy future and include a plan to get every new building to meet a “zero-energy” standard within a generation.

Call your members of Congress that you want them to work for a clean energy economy.

MESSAGE:  I am a constituent of Representative X and I support HR 2454 – the American Clean Energy and Security Act. We need a strong version of this legislation to reduce global warming pollution and build the new energy economy.  Does Rep. X support the American Clean Energy and Security Act?

Report what you find out from your call back to us at michelle.rosier@sierraclub.org.

US REPRESENTATIVES PHONE NUMBERS:

Bachmann, Michele      MN-6^th 202-225-2331

Ellison, Keith                MN-5^th 202-225-4755

Kline, John                   MN-2^nd 202-225-2271

McCollum, Betty          MN-4^th 202-225-6631

Oberstar, James L.       MN-8^th 202-225-6211

Paulsen, Erik                MN-3^rd 202-225-2871

Peterson, Collin C.       MN-7^th 202-225-2165

Walz, Timothy J.           MN-1^st 202-225-2472

Michelle Rosier

Senior Regional Organizing Manager

Sierra Club – Central Region

The nearing end of the legislative session brought Paul to mind.  But forget that for a moment.

Victories for the environment have been few this session, but not non-existent.

The nuclear moratorium repeal went down to defeat in conference committee two days ago.

The Federal Stimulus legislation has passed conference committee.  It will create green jobs while insulating thousands of Minnesota homes and retrofitting for energy effeciency public buildings–if Gov. Pawlenty signs it.

The Sensible Communities legislation has several facets in various omnibus bills, the one most likely to become law is the change in school siting requirements.  In addition the Metropolitan Council (not the University of Minnesota Transporation Studies Center as our legislation wanted) would study how land use planning can affect vehicle miles traveled and in particular air pollution.  They will report back by 2011.  Also, the DOT would have a goal to reduce per capita driving by 15% by 2025.

There may be, too, legislation allowing confiscation of ATV’s for repeat offenders.  A leasing law that could open our public lands to corporate management has been modified in the Senate.

All of these, of course, remain moot until signed into law.

In the end, though, this will go down as a session devoted mostly to the politics of a dismal budget, billions in the hole thanks to a sinking economy.

Paul Wellstone, standing for re-election in 2002, cast a solitary vote against war in Iraq.  He had enormous pressure even from within his own party .

We do not win every fight, but when the environment demands the lone vote against pressure, people know they can count on the Sierra Club.  It is in this kind of political context when the forests and lakes,  the wolves and the snail darters, the wetlands and the open sky need us the most.

I would add that the Governor has signed the Omnibus Transportation Finance bill, which includes a (comparatively) positive solution for transit and a study that will highlight the importance of improving land-use planning. SC was involved in the transit funding discussion through our work with Transit Partners. The study was a piece of the Building Sensible Communities bill.

“All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk.”  Ronald Reagan

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Maybe so.  But who would want to sit at that desk?

The House, only moments ago, defeated an amendment to the House Omnibus Energy Bill, offered by Rep. Faust, DFL, to repeal the state’s moratorium on granting nuclear power plant certificates.  The vote was 60-72.

The debate lasted almost an hour.  The telling points seemed to be three:  1.  What will we do with the waste?   2.  Nuclear power plants are expensive and pollute water sources, usually rivers, with heat.  3.  Should we follow the path laid down in the past toward our energy future or should we create a new path with renewables and a different conception about electrical use, e.g. more conservation, distributed production.

This defeat means the Omnibus Energy conference committee will not have both houses of the legislature in agreement on this issue.  The repeal passed as an amendment on the Senate floor.  The conference committee will, therefore, have to consider the repeal.  This is not over yet.

“God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.”   Thomas Jefferson

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Green Jobs: As reported yesterday, the Green Jobs legislation (part of the Federal Stimulus bill) will go to conference committee, perhaps as soon as the next couple of days.  Its next stop after that is  Governor Pawlenty’s desk.

We have one message for him:  Sign It!

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Sensible Communities: As a stand alone bill, Sensible Communities has been dead for a few weeks.  Four components of it live on in various omnibus bills:  vehicle miles reduction goal, a study by the University of Minnesota on how to reduce vehicle miles, the elimination of school siting requirements and the addition of wetland conservation to environmental reviews required for land use and development planning.

It is possible than one or all of these might pass in their various bills.  The one deemed most likely to become law at this point eliminates acreage requirements for school sitings.  This would allow new schools to locate more toward the center of population densities rather than on their fringes encouraging more compact growth.

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Nuclear Moratorium Repeal: This has still not come up in the House though new information suggests today might be the day.  A new wrinkle is the possibility of an amendment that would link lifting of the moratorium to development of a permanent depository for nuclear waste.  This might encourage fence sitters to vote yes in the belief that the long road to such a depository would not mean lifting the ban for quite awhile. The problem is that another session of the legislature could then eliminate the permanent depository language and therefore repeal the moratorium.

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Bill Making Legal Challenges by Non-Profits much more difficult (HF1557):  I mentioned this legislation on the 16th of April.  In its original form it would have hampered lawsuits by organizations like the Sierra Club by imposing potential financial penalities, even if our suits were successful.  This legislation as a whole is dead, but its author, prominent Range DFL’er, Tom Bakk, has changed tactics.  He will now try to insert language that reduces the length of time in which a legal challenge can be raised from 6 years to 60 days.  This would amount to the same onerous restriction since 60 days is not enough time for most non-profits to evaluate a situation, raise money if necessary, assemble a legal team and file suit.

Green Jobs:

Repeal of Nuclear Moratorium: Current word is that the repeal may show up on the House floor tomorrow.  The House session tomorrow begins at 10:30 AM.  You can watch on Minnesota Legislative Television or webcast.

Lost Forty Chippewa Forest

But I’ll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you’ll come to understand that you’re connected with everything.
Alan Watts

Yes, but what if the far, far forest got given away to land owners who share border with it?  What if the far, far forest, instead of being quiet, had the sound of management activities taking place?  Management by paper companies.  If these things happened, then we might not come to know we’re connected to everything.

There are two bills making their way through the legislative process which would allow both of these incursions on our public lands.

The first bill, HF696, Rep. Dill, allows property owners whose lands are contiguous with public lands to acquire those lands which touch their property with a quit claim deed from the state if there are trespass issues involved.  As one environmental advocate puts it, what will prevent a land owner from encroaching on public land with a building or a fence or a continuous use that will then get “resolved” by a private sale.  A private sale means no public input.  This bill has passed its division in the House.

HF1132, Rep. Dill and others, allows a pilot project which would lease our forest lands to private industry for management.  This is, as MCEA puts it, an attack on public lands.  The most essential word in the phrase public lands is public.  If we allow our lands, our commons, to fall under industrial management then they lose their essence.   Here is language from the bill itself:  “Forest management lease-pilot project. Allows the commissioner to lease state-owned forest lands for forest management purposes as a pilot project.”

“They played hard. They played defense. They respected their competition.   This was a team.”   John Schuhmann on the USA 2008 men’s basketball team winning gold.

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As the session moves closer to its May 18 adjournment date, more of the legislative committee’s attention gets taken up by necessary defensive work, that is, staying alert to bills that would harm the environment as well as pressing for adoption of bills that would help.

I’ve written more than once about attempts to repeal the nuclear moratorium.  Preventing such legislation from passing is defensive work.  The 2008 USA men’s basketball team recovered the gold medal with good defense.

Competitive arenas like the legislative process and the Olympics demand an offense and a defense.  Always.  Without both, as the USA Olympic team learned, gains from the offense can be lost on defense.

The nuclear moratorium repeal made it into the Senate’s omnibus energy bill on a floor amendment.  It did not make it into the House omnibus energy bill, thanks in part to good defensive work.   A floor amendment will be offered when the House takes up its omnibus energy bill, probably next Monday.  Time for more defense.

Later, the energy bill’s conference committee will be yet another place for defense since the repeal is in the Senate’s bill.  It will have to be reconciled with the House version.

A different sort of defensive work is underway on HF1557.  This is a bill that would make taking legal action much more risky for groups like the Sierra Club.  It is a direct affront to the due process of citizens wishing to challenge the decision of governmental bodies in the court system.  In the Senate Tom Bakk carries this legislation.  This bill would make challenging companies like Polymet in court many times more difficult.

ATV legislation has also moved to defensive work.  There is, for example, a bill to increase the allowable engine size to increase from 800 cc’s to 900 cc’s.