Feb 08 2009
Coal Plants Disapproved!
RIP, Coal Industry
This is wonderful news! Apparently, approval for eight more conventional coal plants being planned will be delayed and/or cancelled.
Governor Jennifer Granholm of Lansing, Michigan, has just called for a near-moratorium on the construction of new coal-fired power plants while state agencies consider “all feasible and prudent” alternatives.
In her State of the State address, Governor Granholm pledged to reduce Michigan’s reliance on fossil fuel-generated electricity by 45 percent by 2020. Smartly, in terms that most people can related to, she framed the pledge not in terms of greenhouse gases but in terms of money:
Instead of spending nearly $2 billion a year importing coal or natural gas from other states we’ll be spending our energy dollars on Michigan wind turbines, Michigan solar panels, Michigan energy-efficiency devices, all designed, manufactured and installed by … Michigan workers.
Granholm plans on additional electricity demand being met by conservation, efficiency improvements and distributed renewable energy. The smart grid! She cited the success of a three year-old program which has reduced the Michigan government’s electricity use by 23% while saving taxpayers over $60 million, and also a proposed program to allow individuals and business to increase efficiency with zero upfront charges, to be paid off with monthly energy savings. Those and other energy and green job programs, the governor said, were responsible for the creation of “55,000 jobs; $4.7 billion of investment; and 84 companies. This despite the recession. Just since August.”
