In early February 2008, four major Wall Street banks announced a new reticence to finance conventional coal-fired power plants. Their calculus: The federal government is likely to hit utilities with a cap on greenhouse-gas emissions Continue reading
Joe Biden on Renewables and Coal in Maumee, OH
Joe Biden says, “No coal plants here in America.” Watch:
Join the bird-dogging packs!
Candidates will be touring Virginia constantly from now till the election. CCAN is looking for people like this woman who will ask candidates questions about global warming. Think you’re up to the task? Sign up at vaoncall.org.
Kaine's coal plant is big controversy in Virginia
Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia is a big supporter of new coal combustion and offshore drilling. And he has done next to nothing for clean energy and efficiency. In fact, Kaine’s administration gave the final green light in June 2008 for the construction of a 585 megawatt coal plant in Wise County, Virginia that has no carbon capture capability whatsoever. Despite overwhelming opposition from all across the state, with concerned students and faith leaders and environmentalists turning out everywhere Kaine goes, the Gov. gave the thumbs up and
Coal is what it is–VP candidates and coal
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Barack Obama shone some of his rays of hope on the climate movement. He named “serious” action on global warming as one of the benchmarks for success in his first term. “If I haven’t gotten combat troops out of Iraq, passed universal health care and created a new energy policy that speaks to our dependence on foreign oil and deals seriously with global warming, then we’ve missed the boat.”
In order to deal “seriously” with climate change, we need a moratorium on new coal plants. According to James Hansen, “it’s just silly to build a new one now.” And yet VP hopeful, our own Governor Tim Kaine, aggressively pushed for his and Dominion’s coal plant in Wise County. As Gov. Kaine says on this video, “There are some who say that you can’t build any new coal plants, and I don’t agree with that.”
Join the campaign at www.chesapeakeclimate.org/nocoal
Another VP hopeful, Kathleen Sebelius, has a record on coal that is much more promising than Gov. Kaine’s. She made herself a hero by standing up to a Republican legislature and strong utilities by blocking a coal plant from being built. Even the Republicans have a strong hero in the VP running. Florida Governor Charlie Crist successfully halted the construction of a new coal plant and stated his strong support of renewable energy. “Coal is what it is and I know it’s been an important source of energy in the past. But you know we have solar, we have nuclear, we have wind and other alternative opportunities for energy in the Sunshine State.”
It’s obvious that Kaine supports coal. He wants coal now, and he wants coal in the future. Is this going to meet up with Obama’s stated goal, to seriously address global warming?
The state of Virginia VS. Reality
Ask not for whom the gavel pounds, Dominion, it pounds for thee
Wow, on the very same day Dominion announces it has begun construction on its freshly approved coal-fired power plant in Wise County, Virginia, a Georgia Court strikes down an air pollution permit for a 1200mw coal plant Early County, Georgia, effectively halting construction. When you look at the rationale for the ruling you can’t help but sense a bit of dramatic foreshadowing.
Chief among several administrative grounds for the Court’s reversal was the fact that the Georgia permit failed to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, which, according to the Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, is an air pollutant to be regulated. Dominion should be fine then, no? Their CO2 emissions are regulated, right? Oh wait.
The Virginia Air Board’s permit for the Wise County plant doesn’t even address the plant’s 5.4 million tons of CO2 emissions per year (the equivalent of 1 million new cars on the road). While it’s possible that the judge from Georgia could turn out to be a kook (pretty unlikely), this ruling looks like it might be the ghost of litigation future for Dominion.
There’s more.
The Georgia court also found that the plant did not meet the standards for a “major emitting facility” mandated by the Clean Air Act in that the proposed plant did not use the best available control technology, which in this case was integrated gasification combined cycle technology (IGCC). Guess what other coal-fired power plant doesn’t utilize IGCC technology? Ouch. Seriously, Dominion must have read this decision and doubled the size of their legal department.
It may turn out that because Dominion is burning refuse coal and some biomass that the Virginia court will find that their technology is the best available. It’s also possible that the court will take a long look at IGCC technology and say to Dominion “Um, this is better than what you were going to build. You need new permits. See you in 5 years.”
And even if the Virginia court finds that Dominion is using OK technology, the unregulated CO2 emissions are a serious hitch. Massachuestts v. EPA is pretty unambiguous in classifying CO2 as a pollutant meriting regulation. This ain’t over, Dominion.
Dispatches from Wise County, Part 3
This week I’m going to be in Wise County, where Dominion Power is planning to build a $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant. Members of the Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and CCAN are putting on events around the meeting of the Air Board on Tuesday.
Today was the final day of the Air Board Hearing concerning the Wise County coal plant. The room was full of hope after yesterday’s comment period, and the board acknowledged the powerful citizen outcry over the plant’s health and environmental impacts. But ultimately, they unanimously approved the plant. While they significantly strengthened the emissions regulations, they did nothing to address mountain top removal mining or CO2 emissions.
They went as far as they could, without doing more harm than good. Fearing litigation from Dominion, they made no strong statement about regulating CO2 Continue reading
Dispatches from Wise County, Part 2
This week I’m going to be in Wise County, where Dominion Power is planning to build a $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant. Members of the Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and CCAN are putting on events around the meeting of the Air Board on Tuesday.
Today I attended the first day of the hearing of the Air Pollution Control Board. As appropriate to hearings, all the arguments were vetted today
Dispatches from Wise County, Part 1
This week I’m going to be in Wise County, where Dominion Power is planning to build a $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant. Members of the Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and CCAN are putting on events around the meeting of the Air Board on Tuesday.
There’s been a lot of talk about the old ways here in Appalachia. Today is the first day of my trip to Wise County to see what we’re fighting for, to get to know the people who are fighting in this community to stop this plant and to attend tomorrow’s Air Board meeting, where they will decide whether or not to grant Dominion’s final permit.
We started the day by helping the Clinch Coalition build a trail in Jefferson National Forest. The forest is a glorious example of the Appalachian eco-diversity. Hickory, Red Oak and Beech gave way to rhododendron and hemlock. Hemlock is rare these days because of a small beetle, the woolly adelgid, which has infested large numbers of hemlock stands in Virginia. But these hemlock were free from infestation, as was the forest in general. There are few invasive species there, even though the roads and more populated trails have numerous examples of invasives like kudzu. The rhododendrons were still in bloom, and as we looked out over the vista of mountains and deep forest, the scars from mountain top removal mining were clearly in view.
A quarter of this county has been destroyed by mountain top removal mining. We visited black mountain with Larry Bush, whose family has been living there for generations, and we witnessed the intense scarring that mountain top removal mining cuts into this landscape. Miles of land, where a mountain once stood, was leveled, barren and destroyed. Continue reading
Senator Jim Webb stands up to Dominion on behalf of the little guy
Senator Jim Webb displayed his strong leadership and courageous approach to politics this morning. He wrote a formal letter to the SCC opposing Dominion’s proposed rate hikes, saying “In this time of economic uncertainty, an increase in energy costs could compel individuals and families to choose between putting food on their table and paying their energy bill.”
As a Vice-President prospect, this is a heartening development. Sen. Webb is willing to take on one of the most powerful energy corporations in his own state. Dominion’s influence in Virginia politics is systemic, including as a top donor to Governor Kaine. That former boxer, Sen. Webb, is willing to wade into the fray and challenge Dominion’s power is a testament to his commitment to social justice.
With $4 gas prices squeezing rural US, Virginians are faced with rising gas prices on one side and higher electricity costs on the other; oil and coal are rapidly becoming energy sources of the past. Why should Virginians, who are willing to start moving toward cleaner energy, shell out money to support Dominion’s addiction to dirty energy? Dominion needs to start moving toward cleaner energy, create opportunities for green jobs, and make investments in energy efficiency. By starting to make investments in clean energy, not coal, Dominion has the potential of creating over 336,000 of good, local, green jobs that will help move Virginia’s economy into the future.
Continue reading