By Madison Hinshaw, Communications Editorial Intern in Spring 2012.
This just in: Despite the coal industry’s misleading commercials, coal no longer provides 50 percent of all energy in the U.S.!
The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently released data showing that coal’s share of total monthly generation fell below 40 percent in November and December 2011 and the combination of a mild winter and a decrease in natural gas prices might be the leading contributors.
Photo Credit: U.S. Energy Information Administration
Due to the warm trend in this year’s winter, natural gas prices have significantly dropped, which is allowing generators in many states to increase the share of natural gas-fired generation and cut coal’s share of electricity generation.
On Monday March 5th the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative received local zoning approval for what would be the largest coal-fired power plant in the state if built. The Dendron Town Council voted to approve local zoning unanimously and without once discussing the proposal publicly.
Both locals and people from the downwind communities of Hampton Roads were overwhelmingly opposed at every major public hearing (six in total) leading up to this final vote. The council is ignoring their own vocal constituents as well as the desires of the region. To date the town of Surry, Isle of Wight County, and Southampton County have come out opposed to the proposed coal plant because of the expected negative health and economic effects that another coal-fired power plant would have on the region. The press leading up to and resulting from the most recent vote definitely caught on to the fact that democracy has been put aside by the Dendron Town Council. Below is a list of recent press:
Locals and people across Hampton Roads have been overwhelmingly opposed to ODEC’s proposed coal plant. Photo at hearing by Jackie Carroll 2/27/12
In December 2008, the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) proposed to build the largest coal plant in Virginia, across the river from Williamsburg in Surry County. It was to be 1,500 megawatts, in the small town of Dendron (pop. 272). With Surry County residents leading the way, and advocacy organizations like Appalachian Voices and our partners backing them up, we have so far kept this project from moving ahead.
The regional opposition to the plant comes with good reason. In addition to adding to the demand for mountaintop removal coal, it has been predicted (using EPA approved methodologies) that this coal plant would cause serious health problems for those downwind over the course of its 60-year lifespan. Among other problems, analysts estimate that pollution from the plant would cause over 1,300 asthma ER visits and contribute to over 2,400 heart attacks and 200,000 lost workdays.
(Clockwise from top): Victor Ashe, Rev. Gradye Parsons, Anne Davis
Prominent Tennessee citizens are lending their voices of support to the original language of the Scenic Vistas Protection Act, a bill currently in the state legislature that is aimed to stop mountaintop removal coal mining in Tennessee.
I’ll admit, this morning’s Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources hearing had my head spinning. Similar to the committee’s previous hearings on the stream buffer zone rule, statements made by the Republican majority committee members could cause concerns as to who exactly they’re representing.
The hearing seemed staged to give committee members yet another opportunity to barrage Director of the Office of Surface Mining Joseph Pizarchik with criticism over the Obama administration’s proposed budget for OSM, which includes proposed changes to the Abandoned Mine Lands amendments of 2006, and the highly contested handling of a rewrite of the stream buffer zone rule, a controversial topic dating back several years. On a second panel, Appalachian Voices’ Director of Programs Dr. Matt Wasson gave testimony in support of the Administration’s rewrite of the stream buffer zone rule, using data on job creation to turn some committee members’ claims of regulations as job-killers on their head. (more…)
The majority of this committee has been pushing a coal-industry agenda this session, and we don’t expect this hearing to be much different. The topic is “Effect of the President’s FY 2013 Budget and Legislative Proposals for the Office of Surface Mining on Private Sector Job Creation, Domestic Energy Production, State Programs and Deficit Reduction,” and discussion will center around the Stream Protection Rule.
Matt Wasson will submit testimony as to why a strong Stream Protection Rule is necessary, and will counter industry disinformation about its effect on jobs and domestic energy protection. Rather, he will show data supporting the fact that previous oversight by the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection and the Office of Surface Mining have had no negative impact on jobs or domestic energy prices.
His testimony argues that pro-industry predictions of the impact of the Stream Protection Rule are based on faulty assumptions and non-existent data.
Stay tuned to our twitter feed (visible on our homepage) for more!
A dirty bill in the Virginia General Assembly is bad news for the health of Virginia’s groundwater. We urgently need to show state senators that clean water for the Commonwealth is more important than cost-cutting measures for the coal industry!
A bill, HB 710, has been introduced into the Virginia General Assembly that would allow the coal industry to dispose of toxic mining waste in empty underground mines in Virginia – without the consent of the surface landowners.
From there, the waste can leach into groundwater, wells and streams – a major threat to the health of Virginia groundwater. Because of your support we almost stopped this bill last week in committee, but unfortunately it passed by one vote.
HB 710 will be voted on in the Virginia State Senate either today or tomorrow!
Virginians, we need you to take a moment to call your senator’s office and urge him or her to vote against HB 710.
Dawn Coppock, Legislative Director of LEAF has a spot-on letter in the Knoxville News Sentinel. Reprinted below.
Can an engineer make a mountain as well as God can? The coal industry says, “Yes”; Tennesseans loudly say, “No”; and the state Senate is still ducking, stalling and faking.
I advocate for the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, SB 577, a bill to prevent blasting off high-elevation ridgelines to remove coal. When I arrived in Nashville on Tuesday morning, the staff of the Senate Energy and Environment Committee, both pro and con, greeted me with exasperation. They couldn’t get a call out for calls coming in, hundreds of calls for the TSVPA. They couldn’t find other emails in the overwhelming flood of pro-mountain emails. They even had piles of paper letters — old-fashioned paper, snail-mail letters, handwritten and heartfelt — asking the senators to keep Tennessee’s ridgelines intact. It warmed my heart and encouraged Senate supporters while giving opponents pause.
Under all that pressure, the Senate leadership tried a fake, gutted the TSVPA and amended it with a big mess of nothing, then patted Tennesseans on the head and said the mountains are safe.
The sponsor of the amendment, Sen. Mike Bell, and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, Sen. Jack Johnson and Sen. Mike Faulk agree that the amended bill adds no protection that is not already in current federal rules. Ramsey says we have reached “a point all honest stakeholders can be proud of,” but the amendment was not shared in advance with any stakeholder except industry. And industry does seem to be proud….
Blog by Beth Roach, a Surry County Native. To RSVP for the hearing on Monday, March 5th click here.
All I ask is for them to consider both sides. The powers that be in Surry have made it no secret that they are through hearing arguments and ready to vote, pass, and cash those checks. Numerous testimonies by local residents, environmental non profit groups, and regional neighbors have fallen upon deaf ears.
While a lot of locals have been a part of the fight for several years, there are others who are joining the opposition everyday. They are dismayed at the harmful effects that this process – from mountain top removal to coal combustion to fly ash storage – creates. They have difficulty understanding why the decision makers don’t take this information seriously.
This morning, in the opening prayer on the floor of the Tennessee State Senate, Coffee County Pastor Michael McGloughlin spoke these beautiful prayer on the need to protect Tennessee’s heritage, mountains, and scenic vistas. If you have 6 minutes, please watch all the way through.
We’re still alive! Appalachian Voices and other Tennessee coalition partners have moved the conversation on banning mountaintop removal to the floor of the Tennessee State Senate. The Senate Energy and Environment Committee this morning vote 8-1 to move a bill forward.
BUT, its a bit complicated. Before what we call the “Scenic Vistas Protection Act” was passed from Committee, the title and language of the bill were gutted via an amendment offered by Senator Mike Bell (R) of Polk County. Senator Bell’s amendment erased the bill language as written and inserted a very narrow definition of mountaintop removal that will – by Senator Bell’s own admission – have little if any impact here in Tennessee. The amendment was written behind closed doors, and no one was allowed to see it prior to the actual hearing, even the sponsor of the Scenic Vistas bill, Senator Stewart. Senator Bell’s amendment was actually handed to the members during the committee hearing, giving them no chance to review its impacts. However, there was complete consensus that the members of the Committee wanted to get the issue of mountaintop removal off of their backs. Their phone-lines have been off the hook this week with people asking them to pass the Scenic Vistas Protection Act.
After the amendment was added, the bill sailed through unanimously with the exception of Senator Beverly Marerro, a great mountain advocate who voted against the final bill because of how badly the original bill had been gutted.
Needless to say, the bill as passed is not the Scenic Vistas bill. It is, as we say – a marshmellow – with essentially zero value. It is a blank slate which allows us to take up the conversation of mountaintop removal with the entire 33 member Tennessee State Senate. An amended bill is not the very best scenario that we could have faced, but it isn’t a bad position to be in. For the first time in history, to my knowledge, a mountaintop removal ban will be heard in its entirety on the Senate floor of a state legislative body.
While we are terribly disappointed by the mockery of the legislative process made by Senator Bell, the fact is that the bill could have died in Committee today, or it could have moved to the floor. We now have a chance to go to the floor of the Tennessee State Senate and have a conversation about mountaintop removal, while trying to add some meaningful language back into this bill.
This critical conversation continues, and we need to make sure all Tennesseans step up the pressure and contact their state Senators to let them know that they want to protect our mountaintops in the state of Tennessee by adding meaningful, powerful language back to the bill that will protect our mountaintops and our Appalachian citizens.
An image of the Bell amendment is below the fold, and you can watch the full committee meeting here:
[Note, embedded video is not working for some users. You might try the original site here.]
By Madison Hinshaw, Communications Editorial Intern in Spring 2012.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized more than 200 organizations, school systems, health care systems and retailers as 2011’s Energy Star Leaders. Several organizations in Appalachia have been recognized for being Energy Star Leaders, North Carolina taking the lead with a whopping six energy efficient organizations.
The EPA’s Energy Star program aims to help organizations nationwide achieve energy efficiency by providing them with an energy management strategy. The strategy includes a focus on ongoing performance measurement and whole-building improvement.
Energy Star Leaders have improved the energy efficiency of their buildings by 20 percent or more. In order to become an Energy Star Leader, an organization must meet one of two energy efficient milestones.
Locals and people across Hampton Roads have been overwhelmingly opposed to ODEC’s proposed coal plant. Photo at hearing by Jackie Carroll 2/27/12
The sponsor of the amendment, Sen. Mike Bell, and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, Sen. Jack Johnson and Sen. Mike Faulk agree that the amended bill adds no protection that is not already in current federal rules. Ramsey says we have reached “a point all honest stakeholders can be proud of,” but the amendment was not shared in advance with any stakeholder except industry. And industry does seem to be proud….
