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.”
The coal industry’s response was not realistic and in fact, they sort of freaked out about it. My advice to the coal industry: Find other jobs. Your industry is being PHASED OUT. The government now, in my opinion, needs to create new jobs for all coal employees. Yes, I’m serious. It’s the government’s job to be a social safety net, especially when we are facing a climate emergency, as we are.
The senior vice president of communications for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) stated early Thursday morning that “the decision by Governor Granholm to delay the process of reviewing air permits for the construction of state-of-the-art clean coal technology power plants in Michigan is regrettable.” He followed that up with: “these projects, assuming that they are approved by the proper permitting agency, could bring economic relief and create jobs for Michigan workers, at a time when the state battles the worst unemployment rate in the nation.”
This brings up two problems!
First, of the eight conventional coal projects that have been put on hold, none of them were “clean coal” plants. Therefore, it’s ridiculous that the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity should need to express its regret, unless of course the ACCCE is just a tone-deaf oxymoronic advertising front set up to put a clean face on dirty industry.
Seriously. If it is going to try to bluff, the ACCCE should learn to keep its cards closer to its chest.
Much of this information came from the ever-brilliant ClimateProgress blog.
Building new coal plants are not the only way to create jobs in Michigan. The Governor’s commitment to renewable energy, including an upcoming pledge to allow residential and commercial property owners to sell renewably-generated electricity back to the grid, has already attracted investment from four wind turbine manufacturers and three solar panel manufacturers just since October 2008.
Governor Granholm’s support for energy innovation in Michigan will almost certainly have long term benefits. Unlike conventional coal-fired generation, the future of which is certainly uncertain, demand for these products both at home and abroad is not going anywhere.
Click here to read Governor Granholm’s executive directive.
I appreciate this post as I am living in Michigan and have seen the incredibly tough circumstances my fellow Michiganders are facing. Every day on the radio, I hear about all the auto manufacturers that are downsizing and the plants that are closing. As if Michigan weren’t in a bad enough state!
I agree with you whole-heartedly about the coal business being phased out. Why then should Michigan build coal plants that will be obsolete in another few years where yet again, we’d be faced with another employment crisis? It’s smart for us to begin building renewable energy plants not only for the environmental impact, but for us to have a solid foothold in a market that will one day be the norm.