Rejecting Dirty Coal - A Global Trend

Though there is a still a lot more that needs to be done, the success of the Sierra Club Coal Campaign in stopping the constructions of over 60 dirty coal-fired power plants and the conversion of numerous others to more renewable forms of energy, is starting to get some notice overseas.

Juliette Jowit of the Guardian, based in the United Kingdom, writes about how Europe can take a lesson from American activists in tackling it's own climate issues.

Four years ago, campaigners in the US raised concerns over plans to build 150 coal-fired power stations nationwide. Today, nearly half those plans have been defeated in the courts or abandoned, while half of the remaining proposals are being actively opposed. Just 14 of the 150 plants are being developed, and environmental lawyers are all still pursuing them.

"The enormity of what they were proposing to do provided a platform to have that whole debate about pollution, including global-warming pollution, " says Bruce Nilles , director of the national coal campaign for the Sierra Club, America's biggest grassroots environment group.

Take notice, people are paying attention to what we're doing here. Read the entire article here.

Comments

[joe]

This is one way to make sure we remain dependant on foreign oil. Great job folks.

[Dr. J. Singmaster]

While we may be getting conrol of expanding coal fired plants, we are losing control of the spread of germs, toxics and drug from organic wastes and sewage. A recent report in Science indictes that ocean dead zones are expanding due to wastes and nitrogen runoff, the latter of which is being blamed mainly on expanded fertilizer use for corn to make bioethanol.
The Pickens plan should be given much more consideration for getting rid of much our dependence on foreign oil. It is being downplayed by big oil and energy companies fearing great losses in profits as their off-shore oil rigs costing probably 20 maybe 50 times more than natural gas rigs on land would be tanked as well as refineries.
But we may have hydrogen soon available as five reports in the last year have been made on different catalysts to split water using sun energy. Unfortunately, big oil and energy also seem to be downplaying this development, after making claims a few years ago that they would look into new sources of energy. Getting hydrogen from water and sunlight energy totally undercuts their massive investments so they are not going to be jump on the hydrogen bandwagon. So the public especially readers here should start screaming for Fed. Govt. to act and to sink the bioethanol program as well before fertilizer runoff ruins more of the oceans and their needed food supply for many people of the globe. Dr, J, Singmaster

[Charles Moore]

Reject dirty coal A global trend..!! Not hardly. China and India

Like it or not....the reality is oil a massive part of this country and no wishing, histercial rants or calls for governement to do something will can cause an overnight change. The government is THE LAST body to be muddling in the nations energy matters.

Singmaster, like most Sierra other groups are ignorant about the record proftis. The profits go back into exploration - drilling, increasing refinery capacity, pipelines est. Look at the rate or return. As as abindusty it is a little over 7%, computers, airplane even apparel have higher. The reason for the lower rate in oil and gas is the record profits go back into the business.

If Singmaster would have checked his info he would have found that the vast number of rigs ARE gas rigs. Of the approx 1,950 drillings rigs in AMerican only about 350 are oil.

The hydrogen car that Honda made, the one one tv, $1,000,000.

Oil companies are not hydrogen energy companies. This is not their are of expertise.

I do agree that the biofuel program is a crock. There is no way they can meet the production amount set in by the Energy Indepence bill.

[Mike Kelley]

Your efforts to prevent energy production are paying off here in Montana. A small electricity co-op here has had to more than double their charges to customers because they have been trying to build a coal plant and the costs have skyrocketed. So now you have people of very moderate means getting energy bills they can not afford. Keep up the good work, assholes.

[Mike Kelley]

Your efforts to prevent energy production are paying off here in Montana. A small electricity co-op here has had to more than double their charges to customers because they have been trying to build a coal plant and the costs have skyrocketed. So now you have people of very moderate means getting energy bills they can not afford. Keep up the good work, assholes.

[run your car on water]

i am not sure about coal. i do not think this is a good way for energy. we should look for other alternatives.