No New Dirty Coal Plants in Texas

[sonias]

Two related action items that I'm combining on one post. One Austin protest and one Internet action item, so every Texan can participate!

Protest Governor Perry's fast-tracking of permits for coal-burning power plants.
Download flyer in adobe pdf format for printing.
17 proposed coal plants threaten our Health our Air and Water and our Land!
Please join us!
Bring signs and musical instruments!
Friday, August 25th -- Noon
Meet in front of the Texas Capitol
11th and Congress
Austin, TX
Pass the word and bring a friend!
www.StoptheCoalPlant.org
Contacts: [e-mail]
[e-mail]

ACTFORCHANGE ACTIVISM UPDATE: August 10, 2006
URGENT ALERT
Texans, Tell Gov. Perry: No More Coal-Fired Power Plants!

Two-thirds of Texas families live in places where on certain days of
the year, it's basically not safe to breathe. Now, aided by an
executive order by Governor Perry to fast-track the permitting
process, energy companies are planning to build 17 new coal-fired
power plants across Texas -- a certain disaster for Texas' air
quality.

Click here to tell Governor Perry to rescind this executive order and
instead steer Texas' energy future towards efficiency and renewables:
http://act.actforchange.com/cgi-bin7/DM/y/epEK0BBpLp0UMH0BLBo0EC

As if the air quality impacts weren't bad enough, these proposed new
plants will also dramatically increase emissions of global warming
gases. New power plants constructed today are likely to operate for 50
years or more, so choosing coal now will burden future generations
with an energy system guaranteed to make our climate crisis a lot
worse. Burning coal also emits high levels of mercury -- a dangerous
pollutant proven to cause birth defects.

Governor Perry should follow the lead of Governor Kempthorne in Idaho
and declare a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants. Investments
in energy efficiency and renewable sources such as solar and wind can
provide for Texas' energy needs for years to come -- and will also
save consumers money.

Click here to tell Gov. Perry -- follow Idaho's lead and declare a
moratorium on new coal-fired power plants:
http://act.actforchange.com/cgi-bin7/DM/y/epEK0BBpLp0UMH0BLBo0EC

*** After you take action, please forward this email to everyone you
know in Texas -- friends, family, and colleagues -- who wants to see
cleaner air and a better energy future for the Lone Star state. ***

Kick it for the environment!

Sonia

[cosmik debris]

1. FYI-- I found this in the Environment Forum

I don't mean to hi-jack your thread, but I thought this was relevant and educational.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-pollution_10pro.ART0.North.Edition1.2c2e878.html

Group says pollution studies are tainted

Inquiry sought on firm analyzing coal plans for state, working for TXU


08:52 AM CDT on Thursday, August 10, 2006

By RANDY LEE LOFTIS / The Dallas Morning News

A watchdog group wants Dallas-Fort Worth legislators to investigate how an environmental company got to work on state-funded pollution studies while it also consulted for TXU on a planned new coal-burning power plant.

Environ Corp. is the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's chief consultant on air quality studies across East Texas, including studies on the possible impact of new coal plants for which several companies are seeking permits.

The company also provided expert testimony for TXU in a recent permit hearing for the power company's planned Oak Grove plant in Robertson County. TXU would own 11 of the 16 new coal-burning power units proposed statewide.

On Thursday, the environmental and consumer watchdog group Public Citizen, seeking an investigation by local legislators, called Environ's dual consulting role a "breathtaking conflict of interest with significant consequences" for air quality.

"We shouldn't trust TXU's paid contractor to tell the state whether the pollution from ... proposed coal plants will make the air unsafe over the Dallas-Fort Worth area," said Public Citizen's Texas director, Tom "Smitty" Smith.

[sonias]

2. Not a hijacking, it is related the same two stories are on STCP

Smitty Smith is calling them on their bullshit. I love his quote ""breathtaking conflict of interest". And he means breathtaking literally too.

Sonia

[flamin lib]

3. kick. Coal fired electric plants are responsible for most of the

mercury in our water. One in three fresh water fish in America are not fit to eat because of mercury poisoning.

[CoolOnion]

4. Done!

[sonias]

5. Big Win for Breathers: Proposed TXU Coal Plant Denied

Kicking the thread for the protest tomorrow. I'll be out of town unfortunately. The good news however is the win! Press release below:

http://www.seedcoalition.org/pr_082306.html

Big Win for Breathers Proposed TXU Coal Plant Denied

For Immediate Release:
August 23, 2006

Contact:
Tom "Smitty" Smith [phone]
cell [phone]
Paul Rolke cell [phone]
[phone]
Karen Hadden [phone]
Wendi Hammond [phone]

AUSTIN - A decision was issued today by administrative law judges in a permit application by TXU to build a 1720 megawatt lignite fired coal plant near Franklin, Texas. The judges ruled that the proposed pollution controls the proposed 1720 megawatt plant weren't proven and that the emissions could affect downwind cities. The decision reads in part:

"The Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) recommend the commission find that Oak Grove has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that its BACT proposals for controlling NOx and mercury emissions are technically practicable and would achieve the performance standards contained in the application and draft permit. The ALJs find that Oak Grove failed to prove by a preponderance of evidence that its proposed source would not cause or contribute to a condition of air pollution. For these reasons, the ALJs recommend that the Commission deny Oak Grove's application for air quality permit."

"This is a major victory for people who live downwind of proposed major power plants like this 1720 megawatt monster. Citizens who live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Waco and Austin who would have been affected by the emissions from this proposed plant can take a deeper breath as a result of this decision. The ALJs reversed the commission's decision on the rate of NOx emissions. However, this ruling will now go the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for review and could be reversed by the Commissioners. We are hopeful that the commissioners will uphold this decision and not bow to TXU's tremendous political weight" said Tom "Smitty" Smith, one of the plant's opponents.

"Robertson County: Our Land, Our Lives is encouraged by the judge's decision. We have said all along that the emissions from this plant could and should be lower. After hearing the evidence the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) judges agree with us. We are anxious to see if the TCEQ Commissioners will heed the message this decision sends and demand that TXU resubmit their application with lower emissions. We have often felt like a small voice in the wilderness, we are delighted that our claim that a thorough review of the facts would lead a reasonable person to agree with us has been validated. Citizens should not be forced to choose between economic development and a clean environment" said Paul Rolke, President of Robertson County Our Land Our Lives. "This shows that citizen groups facing power proposed plants should fight them- they can make a big difference."

"We are very happy about this decision. Mercury pollution is a serious health threat, and the TXU plant would have emitted 1440 pounds of toxic mercury every year. This is a huge amount of a substance that causes brain damage, and having mercury controls on the plant that actually perform is critical. Texas is already the worst in the nation for power plant mercury pollution; and the judges were right to deny this permit." stated Karen Hadden, of the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition"

"It just seems odd that throughout this whole ordeal TXU has constantly claimed that it could not use IGCC because it is not a 'proven technology'--despite this technology being successfully used elsewhere in the country to reduce pollution," said Hadden. "Rather, TXU wanted to use technology at Oak Grove that has never been used for this type of lignite-fired power plant. Nobody knew how, or if, it would work to protect our air as well as TXU claimed. Fortunately, the law requires more than a mere promise from TXU-it requires proof, which the judges determined was lacking."

"The TXU Oak Grove hearing judges have issued an extraordinary ruling recommending to deny the air permit, the first time a proposed coal-fired power plant permit has ever been denied in Texas by the TCEQ," says Neil Carman, clean air program director for the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter. Carman added that "We hope this positive trend continues of denying permits for dirty coal plants."

Yes!!! Victory for us breathers!
:woohoo:


Sonia