This post is by Tom Owens, Former CCAN Virginia Campus Organizer.
So take Virginia, the old Commonwealth, the birthplace of some of the most esteemed leaders of American history: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and television’s the Waltons. Continue reading
The Associated Press reported the other day that the price of coal has gone through the roof from $40 to $90 per ton in just the last year. The causes of this increase are many, from short term problems (like floods in major Australian mines), emerging competition for the resource from China and India, and long term problems having to do with increased demand. The take home message is that coal is getting more expensive, and that is causing the electricty providers to raise rates.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the states and utilities that rely most heavily on coal are being the hardest hit by this growing energy boondoggle. States like West Virginia that get more than 90% of their energy from coal saw their electricity rates rise twice as fast as the national average in 2007 (4.6% vs. 2.3%). Rate increases like these impact the already stressed poor communities the most, the ones that are barely able to pay their utility bills in the first place.
To many of us that
understand basic economics, the price increases that we are currently seeing with coal, gas and oil are not entirely surprising. All fossil fuels are fininte resources that are used and not replaced. As the world uses more and more of these resources, the scarcer and more valuable they become, and therefore the price goes up accordingly.
This is not wholly a bad thing if the economy is allowed to work its magic. Other forms of (renewable) energy will become more competitive, our reliance on fossil fuels will go down as we use more alternative energies to meet our needs, and as demand for fossil fuels drops so will the price. Pure magic.
But our utilities are not listening to the market and apparently are not big fans of Adam Smith.
In spite of fact that we are running out of coal and prices are skyrocketing, Dominion Power still wants to build a new coal plant to lock Virginians into 50 more years of dirty, inefficient, and expensive technology. The last time I checked, the price of solar and wind energy were coming down — they also provide the benefit of utilizing power sources (the sun and wind) that is not subject to price shocks. So it wouldn’t matter how much of the sun China is using, we will still get our fair share as well.
Dominion is not thinking like a rational consumer, they are mortgaging our future for short term gains (for why that is bad, see: the current housing foreclosure crisis). Wind and solar are predictable investments, coal is not.
Our Commonwealth would be better served by renewable energy, if only we had the leadership to help bring it here.
The Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition joined others today to announce that the campaign to halt construction of the Wise County plant has only just begun. Opponents discussed their intention to file two legal challenges within 24 days to ensure that the polluting and illegal coal plant never comes online. Continue reading
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.
Just two days after America’s top climate scientist warned that new coal-fired power plants would doom the global climate, the state of Virginia gave final approval to a massive new coal plant that will send dirty electricity to Northern Virginia. But the fight is far from over. We are headed to court where we believe the controversial $1.8 billion plant will be rejected — in part on global warming grounds.
Over a hundred people from all over Virginia came together in Wise County last week to show the Air Board that there is broad opposition to this plant, not just in southwest Virginia but throughout the Commonwealth. Despite massive efforts on the part of plant proponents, we far outnumbered the plant supporters at Tuesday’s public hearing.
In response to the outpouring of public opposition, the Air Board made a number of significant changes to the permits. These changes drastically curtail Dominion’s ability to emit mercury, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride and carbon monoxide.
But ultimately the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board awarded final permits for a new 585-megawatt coal-burning plant that has no technology whatsoever to capture greenhouse gases and still fails to meet federally required maximum controls for the neurotoxin mercury and 60 other hazardous air pollutants. Despite a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Massachussetts vs. EPA) that establishes carbon dioxide is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, the state of Virginia has now approved a plant that radically departs from the nation’s new clean energy focus. Continue reading
Governor Kaine has some friendly advice for the Air Board. Apparently there have been “recent reports” to the Governor necess
itating that he reiterate the “obvious parameters within which to exercise [their] authority.” This is just a little FYI, in-case-you-forgot, heads-up-on that-little-meeting coming up, right? Perhaps. Or it’s oblique intimidation, an attempt to rhetorically undercut the independence of the board by declaring his superior knowledge of the regulatory structure of the board.
And of course while the letter does not explicitly reference the Wise County plant, the close proximity to the date of the board’s vote makes its regulatory referent clear enough.
Gov. Kaine seeks to make it clear in the letter that his knowledge of the proper role and regulatory structure of the Air Board is greater than that of the board members themselves. He’ll go ahead and let the board members work from the reasonable assumption that a person (nay, a Governor!) with his knowledge of the functioning of a regulatory body should be able to predict the actions of said regulatory body with a high degree of accuracy. It follows that if the members of the board are to believe Governor Kaine does in fact understand the structure and role of the Air Board as well as he claims he does, then the decision he anticipates should be the correct one. The Governor wants to make it clear to the Air Board that they should get in line with his decision, and if they don’t they are incompetent regulators.
But surely Governor Kaine is aware that the mercury emissions alone from the Wise County plan (not to mention the C02) merit the denial of the Air Permit under the Clean Air Act. Mercury is particularly dangerous to pregnant women and young children. Mercury exposure has been linked to autism, poor attention and language skills, and other developmental problem, prompting the EPA to regulate the toxin. Dominion must meet a standard of 1.1 pounds of emissions per year, but the Wise County plant is in gross violation of this rule and will emit 72 pounds per year.
The board should stick to their guns and not let Governor Kaine intimidate them. Continue reading
If Gov. Kaine wanted to find allies in the fight against the coal plant in Wise County, it wouldn’t be hard. Business leaders from across the state issued a press release today opposing the Wise County coal plant. Citing the SCC’s finding that that operating the Wise County Coal plant would cause a net loss of 1,476 jobs in Virginia, they conclude, “it would be bad business for Virginia to pick dirty energy over clean energy.”
As a business leader I am particularly concerned about coals impact on the communities and environment of our state. The pollution, toxic waste and carbon emissions that accompany coal extraction and burning will make Virginia a less competitive economy. Instead of investing in coal, we should be putting our money behind renewable energy projects and creating green jobs. The future of my business is dependent on a cleaner, greener and competitive economy in Virginia.
Economically, this plant just doesn’t make sense. Congress is widely expected to put a price on carbon sometime in the near future. The price of coal Continue reading
With all the rain that’s coming down, it’s no wonder that 2 of CCAN’s staffers had to deal with flooded basements last week. I came home (after being soaked at the Radiohead concert) to ankle deep water, which was coming in through the walls and floors. I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be nice to have a rain barrel so that I could collect some of this water?
As luck would have it, Aquabarrel is offering CCANers a 20% discount on their rain barrels! Contact me at susanna@chesapeakeclimate.org for the promo code.
Last Thursday, May 8th, the coalition of forces that have been working tirelessly for months had their moment to really stick it to Dominion. We unfurled a mile-long petition, listened to great speakers and great music, and delivered over 42,000 name of Virginians that don’t want a new coal plant to Dominion… But you have heard this story, so I have no intention to reiterate it, per se. Rather, I would like to try to sum it all up in six words: Virginians to Dominion, No New Coal!
Why six words? Because according to minds that may or may not be greater than mine —
anything can be said in six words (see, I just finished up that sentence with a six word statement!!!).
What are your words for Dominion?