Rebecca Wahlberg, right, dressed as "Clean Energy Wamn," joins Jack Morrison, left, at rally in Austin on Sunday to criticize a plan to build up to 18 new coal-fired power plants in Texas.
Harry Cabluck: AP
Posted on 02/12/2007 8:55:55 AM PST by thackney
AUSTIN — Carrying signs with slogans of "Stop the Coal Rush" and "Shame on Texas," about 1,000 people rallied at the state Capitol on Sunday to call for lawmakers to slow down a plan to build up to 18 new coal-fired power plants.
Environmentalists fear the new plants, with 11 proposed by energy giant TXU Corp., will pump millions of tons of pollutants into the air every year.
"Coal plants seem so archaic," said Stacy Foss, an Austin teacher who brought her two young children to the rally in the 50-degree weather. "Texas is so environmentally incorrect."
Organized by about 40 environmental and health advocacy groups, including the Sierra Club and the American Lung Association, the rally called on lawmakers to support a timeout on permits for the new plants. The TXU coal proposal is on the fast track under an order Gov. Rick Perry issued last year to expand the production of electricity and lower its cost.
Moratorium sought TXU has said the proposed plants will meet the state's growing demand for power, give an economic boost to small towns and reduce toxic emissions by replacing older, less efficient plants. But Rep. Charles "Doc" Anderson, a Waco Republican, has filed a resolution calling for a 180-day moratorium on new coal plant permits to give state officials more time to study the environment and health impacts.
A hearing on TXU's application for permits is scheduled to begin Feb. 21 in Austin.
"A moratorium would give us time to take a deep, clean breath," Anderson said. His resolution has not been scheduled for a vote in the House.
Many in the crowd Sunday carried signs warning about global warming and called for the state to invest in wind and solar power and conservation programs.
Several people dressed in costumes as coal miners with sooty faces. Damon Jones, an Austin restaurant manager, wore a gas mask with his black suit.
"I'm just another guy trying to avoid the pollution," Jones said.
Coalitions formed Stephen Hodgsen, an engineer from Galveston, said he became motivated after watching former Vice President Al Gore's Oscar-nominated documentary about global warming, An Inconvenient Truth. "That showed me we need to do something," said Hodgsen, who supports more use of wind power and expanding nuclear energy.
Marc Scott, a farmer and school board member in Hallsburg in McLennan County, lives just a few miles of four of the proposed new plants. He worries his family's health would suffer from air and water pollution.
"We're at ground zero," Scott said. "It won't matter which way the wind blows."
A coalition of business and energy interests recently bought more than $1 million in newspaper advertising to speak out against the coal plants and promote the rally.
The Texas Clean Sky Coalition also included at least one competitor of coal-fired plants — Chesapeake Energy Corp., a natural gas company in Oklahoma City.
An airplane buzzing circles around the rally towed a sign saying "Face it, coal is filthy," the same slogan as the ad campaign.
Mayoral opposition Other opponents of the plants include a coalition of 17 mayors whose cities are downwind of the plants, including Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and Houston Mayor Bill White. TXU spokesman Tom Kleckner said the coal plants would be cleaner than environmentalists fear.
"These are not your grandfather's coal plants," Kleckner said as he surveyed the signs and listened to the speakers from the perimeter of the rally.
"They'll burn 80 percent cleaner than today's coal plants," Kleckner said.
"What's wrong with cleaner air?" said Phil Berry, who works at TXU's Big Brown mine in Fairfield, and stood with Kleckner at the rally.
Opponents argued that cleaner isn't clean enough.
Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of the Texas Office for Public Citizen, said the new coal plants may be cleaner than older ones but would still be major producers of greenhouses gases. Better, cleaner technology exists than the proposed coal plants, he said.
"They may not be your grandfather's coal plants, but they're still you're father's coal plants," Smith said. "This would be a 50-year mistake."
Driven by profits? Critics contend the coal plan is driven by profits and accuse TXU of rushing to beat more stringent federal restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions. Perry spokesman Robert Black said Texas will face an energy crunch within the next two or three years because of population growth and surging demand.
"The fact is, under Gov. Perry, our air is cleaner today then six years ago," Black said. "Texas is the national leader in renewable wind energy, and we have taken significant steps to increase the use of renewable energy statewide and shut down dirty plants that don't meet tough standards."
Rebecca Wahlberg, right, dressed as "Clean Energy Wamn," joins Jack Morrison, left, at rally in Austin on Sunday to criticize a plan to build up to 18 new coal-fired power plants in Texas.
Harry Cabluck: AP
If they were honest the signs woudl read "NUCLEAR POWER NOW"."Our planet demands it!"
Fine. Build nukes instead.
Landmark $10 Billion Investment In Texas (wind energy)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1712880/posts
Private companies have agreed to the capital investments in wind energy generation, while the Public Utility Commission will direct the construction of additional transmission lines to capture and deliver the zero-emission power, Perry adds.
Yet they all charge up their cell phones every night.
I agree, build more NUCLEAR.. or just shut off the greenies and let them live without electricity.
More like "just another NIMBY"...
Tracy, if you cannot produce some kind of document showing that you understand mechanical and electrical engineering in general, and showing a full grasp of recent advancements in clean coal technology, you are just a poorly informed idiot. Based on supply and demand, I know you will be happy to pay ten times the current cost for your utility needs if these plants don't get built. (You know, who am I kidding...in five years you and your somewhat older but probably just as poorly informed kids will be standing at a rally in Austin demanding to know why the government does nothing while energy prices go SO high.)
We need some of those hippy power plants that run on flowers and free love! Oh wait, there's no such thing, crap... Well how about power plants that run on atoms then?
Texas currently produces more electricity from coal than any other state
Net Generation from Coal by State
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table1_7_a.html
Net Generation by State by Type of Producer by Energy Source
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/generation_state.xls
As many people as we have moving into Texas every day...we better do something quick.
The problem is many are coming from blue states and they want to bring their liberalism with them.
That is because their jobs already left the blue states and they haven't figured out why, yet.
They have no jobs....
The why don't you leave. I hope to move to Texas or another nearby state someday, and I don't want morons like YOU screwing it up.
Gee, Mr. Anderson, could you be one of these by any chance?
Oh, and they're using the term "time out." Such mommy/parent language. Why do these people even bother to get up in the morning?
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