Portland General Electric plans to shut down its coal plant by 2020

by: Mateo

Fri Jan 22, 2010 at 05:01 PM CST

Austin is not alone in preparing for clean and affordable energy.

When good news like this comes across the internet like this, we have to share. From the cloudy northwest:

Portland General Electric Co. would shut down the state's only coal-fired power  plant 20 years earlier than planned under a proposal it hopes to finalize with  state and federal regulators in the coming months.

Based on its analysis of carbon and natural gas prices, however, PGE maintains  that a 2020 shutdown would be the low-cost, least-risk plan for utility  ratepayers and shareholders [emphasis mine]. Under the existing plan, both face the risk of  making the huge investment to control haze causing pollution - which does  nothing to control the plant's carbon emissions -- then seeing the plant close  anyway if global warming legislation or a carbon tax makes its output  prohibitively expensive.

Austin Energy has similar plans to get out of its only coal plant, the Fayette Power Project. No target date is set yet, but the utility's 2020 generation plan would reduce Austin's dependence on it by 20-30%. The next two years will be important as Austin works with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas  (the grid operator for most of Texas) and the Lower Colorado River Authority (co-owner of Fayette) to see what the most practical and fair way out. Learn more about the resource plan and some excellent additional recommendations at www.cleanenergyforaustin.org. You can also learn a lot from AE's website www.austinsmartenergy.com.

Original post found at Texas Vox.

New EPA Ozone Limits -- A Great Way to Start the New Year!

by: Texas Sierra Club

Tue Jan 12, 2010 at 00:44 PM CST

Last week, President Obama’s EPA made an announcement that will spring Texas forward to cleaner air!  I love the idea of being able to run on Lady Bird Lake trail without wheezing on certain days.  And, I love the idea that the number of ozone alert days could go down.  The children I'd like to have someday might not have to stay inside the classroom like kids have to now on Ozone Action Alert days.

Here’s the big news.  The EPA proposed an improvement to the federal clean air standard for ozone to a range of 60 to 70 parts per billion -- This step could signficantly lower ozone pollution across the state!  The EPA will soon ask for public comments from you. The Sierra Club is already taking action to support the new, proposed rule!   After the public comments process, the rule will become finalized by August 31 of this year.

The announcement came January 7 from the EPA in Washington.  Texas is going to be one of the states impacted most because despite our beautiful dream of wide open space and big blue skies on the frontier, both urban and rural Texans are breathing some of the dirtiest smog in the nation.  In anticipation of the EPA’s announcement, the American Lung Association in Texas, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Texas State Legislators including Senator Kirk Watson and Representatives Lon Burnam and Eddie Rodriguez environmental groups and local citizens impacted by air pollution in our state eagerly welcomed the decision at press conferences in Austin (News8 Austin video), Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. 

You Don't Have to be a Doctor to Know 

Why is Obama’s EPA doing this?  The proposed rule revises a much less protective proposal from the Bush Administration.  The Bush EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) went with a less than adequate standard (and little enforcement of that!) despite the obvious damage it would cause to our health and air quality.  The ozone limits announced today meet recommendations from the EPA’s scientific panel based on 1700 scientific studies, many indicating that ozone is a lot worse for our lungs than we previously knew.

At Wednesday’s press conference at the State Capitol, Dr. Don Williams pointed out that “You certainly don’t have to be a doctor to know that brown haze is not good for your lungs.”  Dr. Don compared ozone to lead explaining that we didn’t know how dangerous lead was until we found out through research.  Breathing Ozone can kill.  When we breathe in smog, it burns and damages the respiratory system like a sun burn might burn the skin.  It can lead to further respiratory illnesses like cardio-pulmonary obstructive disorder and heart disease.  According to the American Lung Association, even short term increases in ozone have been found to increase deaths from cardiovascular and respiratory problems.  That’s why this new ozone limit is so important.

After the comment period and finalization of the new standard, Texas’ multi-county, regional Councils of Government and the TCEQ will create and submit State Implementation Plans to the EPA that will identify the sources and ways we’ll reduce emissions. That’s really good news for all of us breathers.

We can look at where ozone comes from.  Ozone comes from nitrogen oxides (NOx) and Volatile Organic Compounds emitted by large industrial facilities -- coal plants, cement kilns, refineries, and chemical plants, but also from smaller yet hugely numerous sources like our vehicles in traffic, heavy, off-road construction equipment, gasoline stations, paint shops, and natural gas drilling.

First Step, Halt Proposed New Coal Plants

One of the easiest ways to control NOx emissions is to go after the largest ‘single point sources’.  Because coal plants create almost 35% of all industrial ozone, Texas must reverse the Texas coal rush.  We have to stop building new coal plants and we have to phase out the dirty, existing coal plants.  We have to and we can make a transition to clean power. 

Texas doctors and nurses have been focusing more and more on the coal-fired power plants.  Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is speaking out because they recognize burning coal for electricity is terrible for people’s health.  Along with Dr. Don, PSR spokespersons Dr. Stuart Abamson, a pediatric children’s hospital, asthma & immunology specialist spoke at the Houston press event and pediatrician Dr. Karen Lewis spoke at the Dallas event last week.   

 In Corpus Christi, Dr. Bruce Taylor, pediatrician, anesthesiologist and a member of the local Clean Economy Coalition spoke about the problems presented by Chase Power Development’s plans to build an ironically named ‘Las Brisas’ -- Spanish for ‘the breezes’, coke-powered plant.  (Coke emits NOx and is regulated like coal.) Las Brisas would put out more pollution than the 6 refineries currently operating in Corpus Christi combined including 3,776 TONS annually of ozone-forming, asthma-causing NOx.  Just up the coast, citizens and elected officials are looking closely at the proposed White Stallion coal plant, planned in Matagorda County just south of the Houston-Galveston ‘non-attainment’ area.  Las Brisas and White Stallion would add up with the 9 other proposed coal plant projects in Texas to equal 27,013  TONS per year of additional NOx in our air.  That’s why Sierra Club, Environmental Defense, and local environmental groups and individuals around the state are fighting these new coal plants.  Placing a moratorium on any new coal plant permits and reconsidering all recently permitted coal plants would be one easy way to help meet the new ozone standard. 

DMN to Perry:  Get Over It 

 This week, Governor Rick Perry and the TCEQ continued to fight the Obama Administration’s clean air and climate protection plans while editors at the Dallas Morning News want Perry to get over it.  They want the state to now ‘get started on a serious ozone reduction strategy.’

A reporter at the Austin press conference asked a good question, ‘What will make Texas local and state government clean-up the air?’ 

Good question.  If you ask me, the reason coal plants have been polluting Texas is because the Bush Administration EPA failed to act, and the TCEQ under Governor Perry’s appointees went right along.  We have a new administration now and a new EPA that is willing to enforce the law to protect public health.  What can happen?  For one thing, the EPA has the ultimate say over the State Implementation Plan so EPA can require serious, health-based permitting plans.  If regions around the State don’t reach ‘attainment’ of the clean air standards, they can lose federal highway funds for one thing. 

 Clean Energy Solutions

Texas is now at an energy crossroads.  Businesses are looking for clean energy solutions.  The Texas energy industry can seize this huge opportunity to turn away from coal and create green jobs and wealth by building their part of the new clean energy economy.   We have the smarts in this energy savvy state.   Texas received more money for energy efficiency programs like home weatherization than any other state in the country after New York.  We have the renewable power resources. Texas generates more wind power than any other state in the nation, and we have incredible solar power resource. 

 Sierra Club, other environmental groups, and our partners in the medical community applaud the EPA for taking this step in the right direction.  The only way we’ll get our cities back into attainment of the clean air standards is to stop any new coal plants from being built, and to phase out and shut down some of the oldest and dirtiest coal plants.  We are calling on the EPA to halt the permitting of any new coal plants in the state of Texas and to help TCEQ prioritize which of the dirtiest old coal plants to phase out first. 

State Legislators are ready to take action.  As Senator Kirk Watson said at last week’s announcement, “Our goal…should be to make sure that we all get the air we need to breathe well, have fun, work productively, and keep our region competitive with areas that can offer companies and workers unmistakably clean air.  Non-attainment isn’t something to be afraid of.” 

Challenging the Second Wave of the Texas Coal Rush

by: Texas Sierra Club

Mon Nov 23, 2009 at 01:03 PM CST

What’s all the fuss about?  More and more Texans are realizing that Texas is in the problematic position of having more proposed coal plants than any other state in the nation.  With 12 in various stages of construction or permitting challenges, Michigan, second worst with 4 planned coal plants, leaves Texas in the really big dust.  

Texans are learning that coal plants make people sick.   Medical practitioners have become increasingly involved in opposing Texas coal plants – particularly in Corpus Christi, the site of the proposed Las Brisas pet coke plant;  in Austin, which could become the first municipal utility in the state to reject coal; and in Dallas, which is downwind of the majority of Texas existing coal plants and has been in non-attainment of federal air quality standards. At the EPA last week, Dallas-based pediatrician, Dr. Karen Lewis with Physicians for Social Responsibility said, “Coal plants in Texas emit huge volumes of heavy duty respiratory toxins and we're seeing skyrocketing rates of asthma and respiratory illness in children.” Dr. Lewis addressed mercury pollution which leads to developmental and neurological disorders in children, “Doctors recommend that pregnant women not eat large fish and limit their intake of smaller fish, but can we talk about where the mercury in such otherwise healthy food as fish comes from?  The bottom line is that we shouldn’t be building more coal plants in Texas.”   

There are other reasons to fight coal plants.   Coal plants cost too much.   And, costs are rising as new, more protective clean air standards become law.   The new standards will place many additional regions of Texas in ‘non-attainment’ status jeopardizing federal funds and they will require coal plants to install costly new scrubbers.   Texans don’t need to foot this bill when we live in a state with so much clean energy know-how and wind and solar resource. 

Coal plants also cause global warming and use enormous amounts of water.  This is a serious problem in Texas where we experience extreme drought. 

Fortunately, more people are becoming actively involved.  People are hearing about the second wave of the Texas coal rush in part thanks to Forrest Wilder’s Texas Observer article ‘Coal Star State’ and also thanks to hundreds of Sierrans, our environmental partners and bicycling community friends who came out to Roll Beyond Coal at rallies, bike rides, and hikes in five Texas cities on October 31. Sierra Club’s long time chemist, former state regulator, and clean air warrior, Neil Carman believes that the recently appointed new EPA Administrator at Region VI in Dallas can make a difference in the coal plant fight. 

We got a hopeful sign last week when a company decided that it won’t import PCBs and burn them in Port Arthur.  He thinks the new EPA can also intervene on TCEQ’s habit of permitting big coal polluters. 

Sierra Club will continue challenging coal plants in Texas and we need your help!  Let the EPA know today that you want them to block Texas coal plants and take a serious look at the 17 existing coal plants. 

Hundreds of Texans Faced off Second Wave of Texas Coal Rush at Halloween events

by: Texas Sierra Club

Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 01:02 PM CST

There were 200 people in Dallas including speakers -- Representatives Carol Kent, Lon Burnam, Robert Mikloss, and Dallas Council Member Linda Koop.

There were 200 also in Austin including MC Ian Davis and speakers Representative Eddie Rodriguez, Austin Council Member and bike advocate Chris Riley (He stood up for the City's Climate Protection Agreement) and Dr. Kimberly Carter of Austin Physicians for Social Responsibility (She really nailed the seriously SCARY part of the Halloween message about Texas coal pollution).  

100 oeople came out in the sparking city by the sea, Corpus Christi where their Clean Economy Coalition is in a contested case hearing this week along with Sierra Club over the proposed and quaintly named Las Brisas, 'the Breezes' coke plant.  Corpus speakers included two physicians -- a family practioner from Aransas Pass, Dr. Lorraine Stehn, pediatrician Dr. Kevin Hopkings, Stacy Barrera, President of the TAMU-CC Young Democrats, former REpresentative Arnold Gonzales and Hal Suter of the Sierra Club.  

There was also 50 people rolling beyond coal in Beaumont and 35 in Alpine, Texas.
Calmly scared half to death about rising coal costs, health and environmental impacts of 12 new Texas coal plants http://www.texas.sierraclub.or... , they are taking action to stop the second wave of the Texas coal rush and promoting instead clean air, clean power, green jobs, and the availability of water in the future.

Coal Plant Pollution means Attainment of Federal Air Quality Standards Shot to Hell

"These 12 new coal plants are a significant jump to the 17 operating coal plants we already have in Texas," said Rita Beving with Dallas Sierra Club.  "Whether it's the nearby plants being built east of Waco or the one proposed as far away as Abilene, the wind carries coal plant pollution north to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and will only exacerbate our ability to reach attainment."

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is currently in non-attainment of required federal clean air standards, as is Houston and the Beaumont-Port Arthur area.   Austin, San Antonio and the north east Texas area have early action compacts and are near non-attainment.  New federal air quality standards coming this Fall (70 ppb)will mean that several additional regions of Texas will go into non-attainment.

Many states around the nation have dropped plans for coal plants, letting Texas run far ahead in a horrible lonely lead in the opposition direction.  With Michigan trailing at only 4 proposed new coal plants, Texas has the largest number still moving in various stages of permitting  - contested case hearings, appeal, and construction.  With the grotesque rate of acceptance of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), a whole army of new coal plants could go online next year emitting their enormous tonnage of pollution as they rev up to a full-throttled, smog-spewing, global warming, lung-clogging, nerve-shattering, mind-numbing, and heart-stopping blast of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, mercury, and carbon dioxide.  See the fact sheet list of the proposed coal plants in Texas and the gory truth on their cumulative emissions numbers.

Human Health Impacts http://www.texas.sierraclub.org/press/newsreleases/HealthImpactsfromTexasCoalPlantPollution.pdf
Corpus Christi cardiologist, Dr. Greg Silverstein said, "In Corpus Christi, we already experience twice as much asthma as the state average. If the Las Brisas petcoke plant is allowed to go forward with the huge annual emissions of smog and smoke in their permit application, we
will see a significant increase of even more asthma in Corpus Christi and the surrounding towns.  I am concerned about my patients and all the people of Corpus Christi."

Coke is regulated similarly to coal and it emits the same nasty pollutants.  See just what effects coal and coke plants have on human physiology in the attached Fact Sheet.

Coastal Bend doctors of the Nueces County Medical Society and the Tri-County San Patricio-Aransas-Refugio Medical Society passed resolutions opposing the permitting of the hilariously-named Las Brisas (the Breezes) coke plant.   Corpus Christi citizens from all walks of life united across class, Hispanic and Anglos, men, women, children, and the elderly crowded into a room that couldn't contain their opposition at last February's preliminary hearing in which a large number of individuals and organizations including the Clean Economy Coalition and the Sierra Club received 'standing' for a contested case hearing which began today, Monday, November 2.  

Clean Energy Solutions and Green Jobs on the brighter side of the Dark Ages

"There are many reasons to oppose coal plants - they cost too much, make people sick, contribute to global warming, and use enormous amounts of water," said Eva Hernandez, Regional Organizer for Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign. "Another reason is that they are a huge dangerous diversion from the clean power and green jobs economy that Texas is so perfectly suited for and already leading."

Roll Beyond Coal is a project of Sierra Club's Climate Recovery Partnership and the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.  In Texas, Sierra Club is fighting to stop new coal plants and clean up and phase out old coal plants. Sierra Club's environmental partners include our 14 Regional Sierra Club groups, lawyers on the Texas contested case hearings the Environmental Integrity Project, running buddies Sierra Student Coalition, Public Citizen, and a cast of dozens of awesome Texas organizations.

Slide show with photos from all rallies coming soon!  Stay tuned to Lone Star Chapter of Sierra Club on Burnt Orange Report!

I will kill you for water.

by: TXsharon

Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 10:34 AM CST

Injection well to be shut in. RRC changes inspection procedures.

by: TXsharon

Tue Dec 04, 2007 at 09:01 PM CST

See pictures and links to previous postings here.

The RRC reinspected the site and found numerous violations resulting in an order to shut the well in, fines and legal action against the operator.

Because of the complaint, procedures for RRC injection well inspections have changed. There will now be one trained person with direct responsibility for inspecting all the injection wells in this district. That way the inspections will be consistent.

I should receive a copy of the inspection report tomorrow.

A small victory.

How Are Injection Well and Gas Coupling Inspections Alike?

by: TXsharon

Wed Nov 28, 2007 at 08:59 PM CST

NOTE: If you think this is of no concern to you because you don't live in Wise County, remember, water, even groundwater, flows downhill.

Brett Shipp's investigation into the RRC's cover up of the faulty gas couplings in north Texas probably saved more Texans from a death like Bennie and Martha Cryer's when their home in Wylie, TX  exploded due to faulty gas couplings.

Memos from the early 1980s warned gas companies nationwide that the couplings would not meet Federal regulations.  The same couplings were used in Minnesota where they took swift action to replace all their faulty couplings. Shipp discovered RRC memos that were covered up and negligence and malpractice in his investigation.

We need Shipp to conduct an investigation into the RRC practices regarding injection well inspections. Injection wells can also cause fatalities. Although, because they don't blow up, death by injection well may not be quite as spectacular. Oh wait!   They do blow up!

Ames Jones: More Oil! More Gas!

by: Phillip Martin

Sun Oct 14, 2007 at 08:57 AM CDT

• Worldwide energy consumption is expected to increase 40 percent in the next 25 years, and widespread adoption of alternative energy sources is decades away.

  It's a traditional talking point of conservatives to talk about effective use of alternative energies as if it's going to happen around the same time as we have flying cars. The fact, though, is that renewable energy and energy efficient technology are available today. Wind and solar power are available now -- businesses just need to invest in them.

  Modifying our personal behavior to conserve energy by doing such things as using better light bulbs, insulating our homes, and buying better appliances is simple. Republicans argue that forcing anyone to modify their behavior in such a way is unfair and unrealistic -- but remember, these are the same people who want to force families to love one another.

• Strict environmental rules and targeted tax credits for drilling in hard-to-reach reservoirs are tools that have kept Texas the nation's top producer of oil and natural gas.

  Don't get too impressed by those "strict environmental rules" -- especially when you remember that Houston competed with L.A. for dirtiest air. Or the fact that, " Texas leads the nation in the number of treatment plants and industrial facilities that fail to meet pollution standards for the wastewater they dump into rivers and streams." (Source).

• Our country's energy dependency makes us dangerously vulnerable in economic terms and compromises our national security.

  Not drilling for oil in the Arctic Wildlife National Refuge (which Ames Jones advocates for) endangers our national security --- but starting a war in Iraq makes us totally safe.

If we really want to protect our energy dependence, then we need to live cleaner lives. Oh, and maybe listen a little to that Nobel prize winner.

Sam Coats - TXI's Candidate for Dallas Mayor Part 2

by: stacksucker

Thu Apr 12, 2007 at 11:01 PM CDT

Coats Refuses to Cut Ties To DFW's Largest Industrial Air Polluter - Even as the Company Fights City Hall

(Dallas)-A local clean air group is deriding Dallas mayoral candidate Sam Coats decision not to quit his membership on the board of cement giant TXI, or even pledge to distance himself from the company's campaign to defeat air quality measures backed by current Mayor Laura Miller and Dallas City Hall.

"He doesn't seem to understand the meaning of conflict-of-interest," said Jim Schermbeck, staff organizer of DFW-based Downwinders At Risk."

Downwinders, the 12-year old group that has made the nation's largest concentration of cement plants in Midlothian its central focus, met privately with Coats after his membership on TXI's board was revealed earlier in the month. This is the first time the group has spoken out about the results of that meeting, because, representatives say, they wanted to give Coats an opportunity to differentiate himself from the company's policies that put it at odds with cleaner air in DFW.