Energy bill could aid new power plant in Minnesota

[salin]

(this is how they get Coleman to flip on his pledge on Anwr).

Energy bill could aid new power plant in Minnesota

Rob Hotakainen, Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent

Published September 29, 2003 COLE29


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sen. Norm Coleman is trying to win a deal that would deliver up to $800 million in federal loan guarantees to Minnesota to build a new coal-gasification power plant in Hoyt Lakes, bringing hundreds of new jobs to the Iron Range.

It could also get the Minnesota Republican into trouble with environmentalists.

In his Senate campaign last year, Coleman said he opposed oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and he voted against it earlier this year.

But on Sunday night, Coleman said he would be hard pressed to oppose the latest version of Congress' energy bill if it included money for the Minnesota project as well as support for bio-diesel fuel and ethanol -- even if it allowed oil drilling in Alaska.

more: http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4124228.html

[qb]

1. Thanks for the acid rain, Norm.

Burn in Hell you smarmy prick.

[hueyfreeman]

2. Better then living in the Dark......

[bvar22]

3. Living in the dark....

....is better than dying in a toxic hell.

[bigtree]

4. Opposition to coal-gasification

"The U.S. Senate is taking up a long-awaited national energy bill. http://energy.senate.gov/legislation/energybill2003/energybill2003.cfm
Like a House version passed last year, the Senate is expected to support continued research and development into what's called "clean coal technology."

Two Northeast Minnesota power plant proposals are based on the new technology. But some environmental groups say there's no such thing as clean coal -- especially at the edge of the Great Lakes."

If You Like Pinocchio You'll Love Clean Coal
Fairy Tales Of The Bush Energy Plan: Tom Paine http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5223

Anna Aurilio, with the Washington based U.S. Public Interest Research Group, says there's no such thing as clean coal.

"Burning coal releases carbon dioxide, which is the pollutant that is building up in the atmosphere, and which acts like a blanket; trapping the earth's heat; and which is causing global warming."

Global warming could cause dramatic changes in weather and rising sea levels. Environmentalists say coal produces one third of the nation's CO2 emissions. The higher efficiency of clean coal plants should reduce the amount of CO2 released for a given amount of electricity.

But that's not good enough, according to Aurilio, who supports non-polluting technology like wind. "We have the technology in this country, to reduce our dependence on foreign oil; to reduce energy related pollution, and to save consumers money, by increasing energy efficiency, and to shift to truly clean energy sources."


The Sierra Club has targeted dirty coal because that’s where the pollution is. Here are a few important facts:

75% of Minnesota’s energy comes from burning coal.

None of the coal plants in Minnesota are subject to modern pollution control standards for nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides or particle pollution.

Coal-fired power plants emit 18% of Minnesota’s nitrogen oxides, 26% of the State’s carbon dioxide greenhouse gases, 58% of the State’s sulfur dioxides and 40% of Minnesota’s mercury emissions. According to U.S. EPA data, coal plants are responsible for nearly 60% of Minnesota’s PM10 particle pollution (particles 10 microns or less in diameter).

There are no federal or state standards that apply to mercury or carbon dioxide emissions from Minnesota’s coal-fired power plants.

Using data from a Harvard study on lung disease and heart disease from particle pollution, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has estimated that 153 Minnesota deaths each year could be avoided by reducing Minnesota coal plant particle pollution by 75 percent

Reducing coal pollution through multiple, overlapping tactics is a key part of the Sierra Club Air Toxics Campaign.

Report on Dirty Coal Plants in Minnesota (.pdf)
http://www.northstar.sierraclub.org/Air_Toxics_MN_Dirty%20Power_Report.pdf

FACT SHEET: Reducing Emissions from Coal Plants
http://www.northstar.sierraclub.org/AIR_TOXICS_clean_up_coal_plants.htm

[truthisfreedom]

5. ok, does anyone know who tied these two bills together?

i bet we can discover that norm himself was involved in the plot.