Every Austin City Council member has pledged to move Austin beyond coal and phase out of the Fayette coal plant. Please thank the City Council members for their bold leadership in moving Austin towards a clean energy future.
In more good news, the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) last week officially rejected a water permit for the White Stallion coal plant after over 2,000 of you sent comments and demanded that LCRA not give another drop of our water to dirty coal. This LCRA victory comes on the heels of San Antonio's recent decision to shut down their Dealy coal plant and invest in clean energy.
These are huge victories for our Texas grassroots movement!
Since the 2009 Austin Generation Task Force, our volunteers have been urging Austin City Council to move beyond coal. You collected petitions, attended leadership trainings, hosted house parties, made phone calls, flyered events, contacted City Hall, and now your efforts have paid off!
Austin joins cities across the country that have recognized coal's health effects and increasing costs are too risky to sustain. It's no longer a question of IF Austin will move beyond coal; it's now a question of WHEN.
Our next goal is to work with Austin Energy and the LCRA to develop an aggressive timeline to shut down Fayette by 2016. If we succeed, Austin will be the biggest city in the country to phase out of a municipally-owned coal plant. This is an opportunity for us to lead by example, and we look forward to the challenge of making Austin #1.
These victories show that when we work together, we can build a cleaner, smarter energy future for our community. Thanks for all your help to get us there!
(Impressive organizing efforts from Sierra Club's push to get Austin to divest from coal-based electricity. - promoted by Katherine Haenschen)
We're making great progress moving Austin Beyond Coal.
In just two months, we've signed up 24 house party hosts and gathered more than 1,000 petition signatures demanding Austin Energy phase out of our city-owned Fayette coal paltn. We're well on track to meet our goal of 5,000 signatures by Earth Day 2012.
These efforts are getting noticed. Last week, Mayor Lee Leffingwell told the Community Impact Newspaper that he's "willing to entertain the option" of moving beyond coal.
Now we need to keep the momentum going...
We need as many people as possible to attend our Beyond Coal Town Hall on December 4th and show the decision makers that our grassroots movement is growing bigger every day. We'll also be presenting new policy research that shows the Fayette coal plant can be phased out in a cost-effective way, protecting Austin Energy rate payers from the rising costs of coal.
What: Beyond Coal Town Hall
When: Sunday, December 4th, 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Where: Texas State Employee's Union Office, 1700 South 1st Street, Austin, TX 78704
RSVP:Click here to RSVP
This campaign is important because Fayette pollutes our air and wastes 5 billion gallons of water every year. But if we phase Austin out of coal, this will set an example for the rest of the country. Austin could become the biggest city in the country to divest from a municipally owned coal plant.
Let's work together to make Austin a leader of the 21st century clean energy economy!
Fayette area growers and producers point to damage from Coal Plant Sulfur Dioxide and Acid Gases
(Austin) Sierra Club and representatives of pecan growers and producers in Fayette and Colorado Counties in the Texas Pecan Alliance requested at an Austin City Hall press conference today compensation for losses resulting from pollution from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and City of Austin's Fayette Power Project coal plant.
"Over two dozen orchards and the livelihoods of my family and many of our neighbors have been seriously impacted by the pollution from Fayette coal plant," said Harvey Hayek of Hayek Farm and the Texas Pecan Alliance. "In 1980, the year after the coal plant went on line, we saw the abundant production out here drop and then in the Nineties, the trees began to die. Recently, I had to buy a bag of pecans at H.E.B. so my wife could make cookies."
Hayek and almost 50 people in the Texas Pecan Alliance met with LCRA officials and engineers from Austin Energy and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on November 16. Since the meeting, the TCEQ is considering additional monitoring, members of Austin City Council have set up meetings for further discussion, and the LCRA has denied Fayette coal plant contributed to pecan industry losses.
Dr. Neil Carman chemist and Clean Air Program Director, biochemical injury process, "Acid pollution from the coal plant falls on the leaves causing damage characterized by brown, dead spots, while the sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas from the plant emissions enters the sensitive leaf structure from underneath, biochemically attacking the leaves from within and eventually causing leaf loss and the death of the tree."
Mr. Hayek explained that it takes 220 leaves to produce a single pecan nut on a tree.
"This orchard has been in my wife's family for the past century. We want to recover from this damage. We want the air, water, and soil to be clean and safe enough to replant so my grandchildren can enjoy the abundance we enjoyed," said Hayek.
Hayek, Carman, and others in the Texas Pecan Alliance also expressed concerns about corrosion, water quality, coal ash waste, and human health.
Eva Hernandez, with the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign in Texas said, "The pecan industry losses clearly show one of many direct economic blows from burning coal for electricity. From the Clean Air Task Force study, we also know that, on an annual basis, Fayette coal plant pollution is linked to almost 1,000 heart attacks, asthma attacks, cases of chronic bronchitis, hospital admissions, emergency room visits, and 37 early deaths. There are direct costs associated with these health impacts and we are talking about a devastating reduction in quality of life. We can do better and we deserve better. LCRA and City of Austin must phase out Fayette coal plant by 2020 and completely develop our energy efficiency and renewable energy future -- particularly solar power."
The Clean Air Task Force study, Dirty Air, Dirty Power: Mortality and Health Damage Due to Air Pollution from Power Plants can be found at:
Texas Pecan Alliance representatives from Fayette and Colorado county today delivered 'Vanishing Pecan Pies' baked by Austin residents calling themselves the Pecan Posse to the Mayor and Austin City Council Members, Cheryl Mele, Chief Operating Officer of Austin Energy, the City Manager's office, and to the LCRA. They explained that the pies symbolized "the growing awareness in Austin about Fayette coal plant pollution and growing support for clean air and sustainable conditions for local food."
(Slow day, but something for discussion. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Concerning prices and Austin's electricity future -- the Pace Reports have made their recommendations without regard for alarming financial risks related to keeping the coal plant burning. Austin's coal plant is a bad investment; vulnerable to expensive clean air regulation, a volatile fuel market, and more.
Yes, Austin's coal plant has been a great fit for providing electricity when we need it, year-round, for about 30 years. But today, our power plant is clunker:
1. Antique. In 2007, Austin's coal plant ranked #7 most polluting industrial complex in Texas, out of 2,045 surveyed. (1)
2. Vulnerable. As federal climate legislation becomes a factor, with carbon caps and the like, coal's costs "will likely double" according to Austin Energy's own statements. (2)
3. Volatile fuel market. Purchasing coal to burn in the coal plant costs money. Last year Austin Energy's coal fuel expenses went up 73% from the previous year. (5)
4. Rising operations costs. Austin's coal expenditures tripled in 10 years to $180 million in 2008. (6) Even the Pace Report clearly show Austin's coal costing $1 more per MegaWatt than Austin's renewables portfolio, by 2020.
Austin is about leadership. Council should move immediately to refocusing Austin Energy's generation plan. The Pace Reports, thus far, have left out adequate analysis of our coal plant's financial risks. Austin's business leaders, City planners, advocates for the poor, and environmental activists need to look deeply at the financial risks associated with keeping this coal plant.
