Posted on 05/15/2012 3:52:47 PM PDT by matt04
More than 150 people crowded into a room in the City Hall Annex Monday night to weigh in on Bridgeport Harbor Station's request to renew its five-year operating permit, which expired earlier this year.
Environmentalists have been trying for years to shut down the coal operations at the station, which is owned by the Newark-based Public Service Electric & Gas. This may be their best chance, said John Calandrelli, program director for the Sierra Club's local chapter.
"This is the first, big, major step in what we believe will be, hopefully, a short fight to convince them to not only retire this plant but to revitalize Bridgeport," Calandrelli said.
PSE&G insists that the plant's coal operations are among the cleanest in the nation.
Executive Mark Strickland said that 82 percent of power in Connecticut last year was generated by natural gas and nuclear power, while 2 percent came from coal.
For that reason, he said, PSE&G's coal facilities in Bridgeport were crucial to making sure Connecticut has a backup power service in case natural gas and nuclear power fail.
"There's a need for other sources of generation," Strickland said. "So without plants like Bridgeport Harbor, we may not be able to keep the lights on or homes warm."
Environmentalists say all those statistics actually help them make their case to close down the station's coal unit, which is the last remaining coal plant in Connecticut and one of very few that still exist in the Northeast.
"This coal plant is outdated. It's a dinosaur. And it is time to wake up and invest in renewable energy," said Onte Johnson, just hired by the National Sierra Club as an organizer for its "Beyond Coal" campaign in Connecticut.
(Excerpt) Read more at ctmirror.org ...
We will need more reliable power to charge all those electric cars we are all apparently supposed to buy.
Tell the 150 enviros to go pack sand.
Do you realize that the federal EPA refuses to set any standards or limits for coal particles in the air? The reason is (they say) is that they prefer to concentrate on CO2 and total particulate matter, which can be tied to anthropogenic global warming and Cap and Trade Schemes.
In this way, farm dust can be treated the same as coal dust. The technology exists to measure the amount of coal dust or ash in the air, but the EPA just doesn’t choose to do so. If the power plant is allowed to remain open the EPA will force the power company, through fees, to switch to the lower BTU Powder River Basin Coal, which is produced in Western States.
Obama is only waging war with coal in the East. In the West Obama loves coal and wants to build the biggest coal export terminal in the country to ship PRB coal to China. Of course much of the PRB coal is located on Indian land, which is managed and leased by the federal government.
I live within shouting distance of the plant. Its used for peak days.
Not so long ago, these same ecocondriacs closed the “sooty six” in Ct on the global warming hoax that they caused asthma. Electric rates have tripled...asthma rates are the same.
Last letter I wrote to the editor I demanded the eco freaks be persecuted under the RICO act.
wWhat did Onte Johnson (Onte must be Holder's people) do before she was hired as a spokesman?
collect welfare??
There are way too many idiots who will hear that statement and assume that closing the power plant and revitalizing Bridgeport go hand in hand. Ask them how that will happen and, in the words of Ayn Rand, they will blank out.
So, Onte Johnson, tell us all just how much of your own personal funds you have invested in renewable energy.
(sound of crickets chirping)
June 1....Power company send out notices to all customers:
Dear customer, On June 15 we will shut down power to ALL customers, residential and commercial, for 48 hours, and restore it on June 17.
On July 1, we will do it again, only this time it will stay off until July 21.
On August 15, we lay off all employees, shut down all services, including answering our phones, lock the gates and go to the house.
The only way we will even consider staying open is if you, the people, pressure the obama administration and get the EPA to issue an order not to interfere with our operations for a minimum of 14 years. It's your call. Should you fail in your efforts, we suggest you make immediate plans to either move or get a lot of gasoline for your home generators.
Thank you,
The Management
They did this during storm Irene.
The sooner, the better.
“reacquainted”.
"Oh, you don't like nuclear? OK we'll shut it down."
"Coal is bad you say? Done. It's off-line."
I think it is time to give the progressives and "environmentalists exactly what they want. Let them broil this summer and freeze this winter.
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