Carl Pope writes: Coal, the new outcast



"According to a new survey, a majority of Americans, 53 percent now believe not only that coal plants contribute to warming, but that we need to reduce the number of coal-fired power plants through increased efficiency and available renewable energy technologies, like wind and solar power. Sixty-six percent of Americans — including 53% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats — think that if the government is going to invest in an energy solution, it should be in renewable technologies." Sierra Club President Carl Pope served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in India in the 1960's.

Carl Pope writes: Coal, the new outcast

Coal, the new outcast

By Carl Pope
Minutemanmedia.org

Published Friday, November 09, 2007

For more than 100 years our nation has been wedded to coal power. Today coal-fired power plants provide almost half our nation's power — and almost 40 percent of the United States' annual carbon dioxide emissions, making them a top contributor to global warming.

Scientists tell us that we need to reduce our global warming emissions 80% by 2050 — a doable 2% a year — to avoid the worst consequences. Yet as recently as six months ago there were plans on the drawing board to construct 150 new coal-fired power plants, all emitting as much pollution as old plants.
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But things have started moving in a different direction. The shift in momentum brings new literal meaning to the phrase "the winds of change." Plans for more than 60 new coal plants have been abandoned or rejected by states across the country — and global warming is a growing factor in those decisions. Just last month Kansas became the first state to reject a new coal-fired power plant specifically because of the 10 million tons of global warming pollution the plant would emit each year.

If built, the proposed plant would have been one of the three largest new sources in the United States. The carbon dioxide emissions from the Sunflower plants would have almost totally negated the combined emission reduction efforts of seven northeast states who have joined together to fight global warming.

According to a new survey, a majority of Americans, 53 percent now believe not only that coal plants contribute to warming, but that we need to reduce the number of coal-fired power plants through increased efficiency and available renewable energy technologies, like wind and solar power. Sixty-six percent of Americans — including 53% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats — think that if the government is going to invest in an energy solution, it should be in renewable technologies.

Coal has lost its luster on Wall Street as well. In July, Citigroup moved away from the positive view it held all year on coal and downgraded the financial outlook for coal stocks in 2008 based on "grim" future earnings. With the costs of building new coal plants skyrocketing 40-100 percent in just the past year, and imminent carbon regulations that will further increase costs on the horizon, coal investors are pulling out.

Study after study, like the one released this week by independent economists from ECONorthwest in Arkansas, has found that renewable technology and energy efficiency are better investments than new coal-creating more jobs (an average of 40% more jobs per dollar invested than coal) and pumping more money into the local economy. At a time when the U.S. is rapidly losing manufacturing jobs, renewable energy manufacturing can create a whole new generation of good-paying "green collar" jobs that can help revitalize many of the communities hardest hit by our flawed free trade policies.

Fortunately Congress has the opportunity in the next several weeks to take advantage of this momentum to create jobs and protect the environment with an energy bill that invests in clean energy instead of outdated, polluting sources like coal.

By investing in clean energy, we can create more jobs while meeting our energy needs at a lower cost. In many cases clean energy solutions would cost less than building a new coal-fired power plant, especially when the health and environmental impacts of coal are factored in. Nationwide coal-fired power plants are responsible for almost 22,000 hospital admissions and over three million missed work days each year.

Fighting global warming offers us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a stronger, greener, more equitable economy, while improving public health and fighting global warming. In the short-term coal will remain a part of our energy equation, but to truly take advantage of this opportunity we need to follow the lead of Kansas and others in looking beyond coal and invest in a cleaner, healthier future.

Carl Pope is Executive Director of Sierra Club. The Club is America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. www.sierraclub.org.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: November, 2007; RPCV Carl Pope (India); Figures; Peace Corps India; Directory of India RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for India RPCVs; NGO's; Environment

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