Compass

Big Victory: Minnesota's Landmark Clean Energy Standard Charts Course Beyond Dirty Energy

The Sierra Club — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:56:07 -0700

Minnesota energy has begun a new chapter.

Minnesota has taken a first step in outlining the next big leap forward in the state's sustainable energy future. Pushed by more than 60 environmental, labor, business, youth, and faith groups, the jobs omnibus bill -- expected to be signed by Governor Mark Dayton -- includes a Clean Energy and Jobs package that sets a standard of 1.5 percent solar by 2020 with a broader goal of reaching 10 percent by 2030. This is a great start for a state that is in position to lead the Midwest into the clean-energy economy.

I remember seeing pictures earlier this month of people filling the halls of the Capitol in St. Paul to demand phasing out coal and bringing in clean energy jobs. Legislators, impressed by the turnout, stopped in the rotunda to express their support. The governor even put a picture of the rally on his Facebook page.

Retiring coal is key to solving climate disruption and investing in healthy communities. But just as important is the transition to clean energy. Minnesota's solar legislation will propel the state's investment in energy innovation, generate jobs, and build on the existing goal of reaching 25 percent renewables by 2025. This new standard includes:

- An estimated 450 megawatts of new solar by 2020 added to the existing 13 MW in the state.

- Community-shared solar. Utilities will offer solar "subscriptions" to anyone who wants to invest in an off-site project and receive credits on their energy bill. This is perfect for Minnesotans who rent or have shady roofs.

- A solar tariff. Minnesota will be one of the first states in the country to adopt a tariff that will pay homeowners who generate and pump clean energy back into the grid.

- The commission of a study to explore how Minnesota can achieve an energy system free of burning fossil fuels over the next several decades.

Critics have complained that this will increase rates. But they conveniently overlook the fact that the cost of Big Coal has sharply increased, while solar and other renewables have been steadily getting cheaper. This is one reason why the vast majority of Minnesotans support more wind and solar. They are tired of polluters calling the shots. That's why their representatives have taken action by paving the way for a bright energy future.

-- Mary Anne Hitt, Beyond Coal Director

Appalachian Families Denied Clean Water Travel to Washington to Demand Action

Heather Moyer — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:26:47 -0700

Appalachian activists gather outside the Washington, D.C., Environmental Protection Agency office to demand an end to mountaintop removal coal mining.

Elaine Tanner and her partner Jimmy Hall have both experienced, up close and personal, the destruction caused by mountaintop removal coal mining. The Kentucky natives are fighting a coal company they claim poisoned their well water. One of the company's mountaintop removal sites is right next to their home in Letcher County.

"They destroyed our water," said Jimmy. "The Kentucky Department of Water tested the water of many wells in our area and found a toxic soup. They said the water was unfit to touch and could only be used for flushing the toilet. But the state Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement (DMRE) had knowledge of this and still said the water was safe to use, just filter it to drink. So now we have people in our town with cancer, heart disease, and skin and organ issues."

The mining has blown away their land over the years, too. The property, which has been in Jimmy's family for more than 200 years, went from 250 acres down to 134 acres thanks to a coal company that leased it out from under their family when an uncle passed away. The two also are living in Ohio because they cannot drink the water at their home in Kentucky.

Jimmy and Elaine joined more than 100 other Appalachian residents in Washington, D.C., this week to tell their members of Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that mountaintop removal coal mining must end.

"The water is poison and I came to D.C. to see if the federal government will do what the local, state, and regional governments have failed to do - which is to bring us an emergency supply of water for the 100 families in my community," says Jimmy.

The photo to the left and below shows some of Appalachian activists sitting outside of the EPA offices with jugs of water from their home taps that showing contamination by mountaintop removal coal mining.

Elaine says she and Jimmy filed a Safe Water Drinking Act request for relief in February and just got to show EPA on Monday the request and permit documents showing that mining company Consol Energy is responsible for providing emergency drinking water within 10 days and a permanent supply to her community within a year.

The process has been a long, tiresome journey. Jimmy says it took the state around 10 years to test their water, and Elaine says not much has been done since then.

"It's been over a year since our water tested to contain 17 times more arsenic than allowed. Some families have had no choice but to take the chance and use this toxic water in the meantime," Elaine says. "We plan on coming back until the destruction of our mountains has ceased," says Elaine.

Jimmy and Elaine are not alone. All across Appalachia, people are fighting coal companies who are destroying the region's land and water with mountaintop-removal coal mining. These families are tired of waiting for action from their legislators, most of whom are beholden to the King Coal because of the industry's deep pockets.

However, in spite of the powerful forces aligned against them, local residents are still winning victories, In Virginia this week, residents of the town of Appalachia celebrated a victory when the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy denied a surface mine permit for the Ison Rock Ridge mine in southwest Virginia.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., wrote about Ison Rock Ridge in the Washington Post back in 2009, when the Obama Administration first took office and was weighing its approach to mountaintop removal. In the intervening four years, while the EPA has taken some actions that have slowed the clip of mountaintop removal, mountains are still being blown up, streams are still being buried, families are still suffering from polluted air and water, and states are not adequately enforcing the law. We applaud the recent Ison Rock Ridge decision, and we call on the EPA to do more to protect other communities, mountains, and public health.

The Sierra Club proudly stands with these Appalachian residents in the fight for clean water and clean air. We work with great local organizations and coalitions, as well as nationally, to petition government at all levels to end mountaintop removal coal mining.

"Every day this goes on, our folks are in danger," says Jimmy.

Join us and tell the EPA and President Obama that all Americans deserve clean water, and it's time to end mountaintop removal coal mining.

-- Mary Anne Hitt, Beyond Coal Director. Photos courtesy of the Delaware Sierra Club.

More Than One Million Actions for Climate and Clean Energy in 100 Days

Heather Moyer — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:01:31 -0700

This week marked six months since Superstorm Sandy, and it was also the end of our 100 Days of Action for Climate and Clean Energy, which we kicked off when President Obama began his second term. In those 100 days, more than one million Americans from across the country attended large-scale rallies and local events, signed petitions, sent letters to decision-makers and used social media to engage friends and neighbors in fighting climate disruption.

I'll let Aura Vasquez, a fantastic Beyond Coal organizer in Los Angeles, tell you more in this great video about the 100 days of action.

Of course, while the great successes of the past 100 days are worthy of celebration, we know the work is far from over. In his blog, my colleague Michael Brune wrote that his parents were finally able to move back into their New Jersey home after it was heavily damaged by Sandy. It was a powerful and moving reminder of how serious the effects of climate disruption are- and that there are many, many others in New Jersey and New York who haven't been able to move back home yet. How many more across the U.S. will lose their homes due to climate disruption?

Americans are putting the pieces together. We know the increasing severe weather in the U.S. and worldwide - from excessive droughts and floods, to record snowstorms and hurricanes - are signs that are climate is changing. The more than one million who took action know it's time to transition away from dirty fuels that cause climate disruption and harm public health. We know solar power won't befoul our water like oil pipelines will. We know wind power won't cause air pollution and increase asthma attacks.

And we know clean energy creates jobs and brings with it an economic boost for local communities.

We are pleased with some moves by the Obama Administration to protect our air and water from the Obama administration in the first 100 days. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency recently released draft safeguards for the toxic wastewater coming from coal plants. Without federal standards to safeguard our water, those plants will keep on sending toxic sludge into rivers and streams, where it threatens swimmers and boaters and anglers, poisons wildlife, wrecks ecosystems, and could even contaminate drinking water.

It's time to finalize those standards to protect our waterways and our health.

But that's just one step. There is much, much more than President Obama can and must do to turn the corner on climate disruption, and he needs to start now. We've identified four more major steps President Obama must take.

All of the items on this list are important, and I'm keeping a close watch on #5 - we need carbon pollution standards for coal-fired power plant to protect our planet from the worsening effects of climate disruption. Americans want climate action from President Obama now.

-- Mary Anne Hitt, Beyond Coal Director

New Spate of Coal Bills in Congress Threaten Air, Water, and Public Health

Heather Moyer — Wed, 01 May 2013 11:13:21 -0700

This week, Senator Mitch McConnell unveiled legislation that would force the Environmental Protection Agency to speed up its permitting process for new coal mines instead of taking the needed time to review these proposed projects for potential polluting runoff. This is just the latest in a recent spate of legislative moves by King Coal's buddies in Congress that would handcuff the EPA at the expense of clean air, clean water, and our public health.

Senators Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller have introduced another bill to narrow EPA's authority to protect our air and water. Rep. Nick Rahall says he will reintroduce his bill from last session that would overturn key parts of the Clean Water Act, put key decisions in the hands of the states, and prevent federal oversight. And Rep. Capito (who is running for Rockefeller's Senate seat that he will vacate when he retires in 2014) plans to introduce a version of McConnell's bill in the US House.

These bills come as a response to last week's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on the largest mountaintop-removal coal project ever proposed in the history of West Virginia, the Spruce Mine. The court affirmed that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority under the Clean Water Act to veto mountaintop removal coal mining permits after they've been issued.

For decades the government has allowed the mining industry in Appalachia to operate pretty much as it pleases. Now, when the EPA finally takes some limited, reasonable steps to protect communities and the environment, the coal industry screams and its politicians race to introduce bills to block the EPA.

These are huge overreactions to the Spruce Mine ruling. The EPA has used its veto authority only 13 times in 40 years and used it retroactively only three times. Ken Ward of the Charleston Gazette has a great breakdown of the overblown responses by Appalachian legislators, too.

The EPA must protect communities from the destruction of mountaintop-removal coal mining. Study after study shows the health effects of living near a mountaintop-removal coal mine. From cancer, to birth defects, to premature mortality, mountaintop-removal coal mining is destroying public health in Appalachia as it destroys the environment.

Hopefully, these bills will be dead on arrival, and Congress will let the EPA do its job of protecting public health and ensuring we all have clean air and water - rather than bowing to pressure from coal industry lobbyists.

-- Mary Anne Hitt, Beyond Coal Director

New Solar Farm Shows Clean Energy Can Be Compatible with Conservation Values

The Sierra Club — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:17:54 -0700

Today the Sierra Club welcomes the Antelope Valley Solar Projects in California, one of the largest planned solar projects in the U.S., as developer SunPower and owner MidAmerican Solar marked the start of major construction. The Sierra Club endorsed the project early on because it was planned and sited in a way that protected local plants and wildlife.

The project location was chosen in strict accordance with conservation values, seeking to avoid harming wildlife or building new infrastructure. The projects are located on previously disturbed private land that did not have any threatened and endangered species. Although the project site is in the desert, it was being used to grow alfalfa and other crops that require significant irrigation, and changing the use to photovoltaic solar will significantly reduce water use.

Additionally, because the projects are located near existing transmission lines, including a major substation, it was not necessary to build new high-voltage power lines through undisturbed land.

The solar farm will go online in 2015 and provide 579 megawatts of real clean energy, enough to power approximately 400,000 homes. The projects will help California meet its renewable energy and greenhouse gas emission reductions goals, as well as displacing demand for dirty fossil fuels like coal or natural gas. These solar panels will also offset more than 775,000 tons of carbon per year, the emissions equivalent of three million cars over 20 years.

I'm proud of the Sierra Club volunteers who worked with the developer from early on to improve the project, and ultimately endorsed it for its attention to conservation as well as its generation of clean energy, providing valuable support during key points in the permitting process.

Responsibly sited energy projects, along with rooftop solar and energy efficiency, are the key to fighting dirty fuels and combating climate disruption. These new technologies are gaining momentum and helping us move away from fossil fuels. The Sierra Club supports large scale renewable energy projects developed in line with conservation values.

-- Mary Anne Hitt, Beyond Coal Campaign Director

Two More Victories in the Fight Against Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Heather Moyer — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:52:07 -0700

While the fight to end mountaintop removal coal mining is still far from over, we are celebrating today's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on a massive mountaintop removal project, the Spruce Mine. The court affirmed that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority under the Clean Water Act to veto mountaintop removal coal mining permits after they've been issued.

This is a major milestone in the fight to end the destructive practice of mountaintop removal mining. The Spruce Mine - the focus of this case - was the largest mountaintop removal permit ever proposed in West Virginia history, and its valley fills would have buried more than six miles of streams.

Today's ruling affirms EPA's authority to ensure the safety of our waterways and the health of our communities, including by vetoing improper permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers.

We joined Earthjustice, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, and other allies West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Coal River Mountain Watch, and Natural Resources Defense Council in arguing for this ruling, which reverses a prior District Court ruling. The case will now return to District Court to answer other questions about the Spruce Mine decision.

Here's some history on this Spruce Mine case: On January 13, 2010, the EPA finalized a "veto" of a waste dump associated with one of Appalachia's largest surface mines, Mingo Logan Coal Company's Spruce No. 1 mine in Logan County, West Virginia. The EPA used its clear legal authority under the Clean Water Act Section 404(c) to veto the mine's waste dump because it posed unacceptable risks to the environment.

According to the EPA, the proposed mine would have:

Dynamited more than 2,200 acres of mountains and forest lands.

Disposed of more than 110 million cubic yards of mining waste into streams.

Polluted downstream waters with mining waste, causing permanent damage to ecosystems and streams.

The EPA's veto of the Spruce mine waste dumps was not a surprise, as EPA's opposition to the project began during the Bush administration with a 2002 letter objecting to the proposed permit. The EPA consistently expressed its concerns about the environmental impacts of the Spruce mine. Contrary to some reports, the EPA never approved granting the permit.

Given the failure of state regulators and the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent the destructive impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining, EPA plays a crucial role in protecting Appalachia's communities and environment. Today’s decision reinforces one of EPA's most powerful tools.

This victory comes on the heels of another court victory, on Monday, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit threw out a rubber stamp for mountaintop removal projects, the notorious "nationwide permit 21" issued in 2007. Although that version of NWP 21 expired last year, this court ruling affirms that, for far too long, Appalachia's mountains were being forever destroyed under an embarrassingly flimsy permitting process that did little to nothing to safeguard public health or clean water.

Meanwhile, many current mountaintop removal mines that started operating under the 2007 NWP 21 are still operating today. The case was brought by our allies Public Justice and Appalachian Mountain Advocates on behalf of on behalf of Kentucky Riverkeeper, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, and Kentucky Waterways Alliance.

I am honored to work side-by-side with such amazing people to stop mountaintop-removal coal mining. From the local Appalachian advocates who live with the destruction of it every day, to our national partners. Many of them have worked tirelessly for decades on this issue and will not stop until mountaintop removal coal mining stops.

This quote from last week's Kentuckians For The Commonwealth "Appalachia's Bright Future Conference" especially rings true to me:

"We're for a viable and a sustainable community....we want this place to last. I've got eight grandchildren, and I would love for them to be able to run around these mountains and drink out of these streams."

Mountaintop removal coal mining destroys Appalachian communities, poisons waterways, and lays waste to beautiful, biodiverse landscapes. It must be stopped.

-- Mary Anne Hitt, Beyond Coal Campaign Director

Amazing Chicago Coal, Clean Air Activist Wins Goldman Environmental Prize

Heather Moyer — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:24:31 -0700

Every year the Goldman Environmental Prize committee selects an amazing group of winners from around the world to receive what is sometimes called the environmental Nobel prize - and I could not be more thrilled with their pick for North America this year: Kim Wasserman Nieto of Chicago, Illinois.

Kim is a phenomenal environmental justice activist and mom from the Little Village neighborhood in Chicago. Her work with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) has been inspiring and ground-breaking. The Little Village community is primarily Latino, and is located next to one of the most notorious, polluting coal-fired power plants in America. As a woman of color on the frontlines of the fight to stop the pollution, Kim not only served as an inspiration to many others, but she also led a winning campaign that ultimately secured the retirement of not one, but two, deadly coal plants.

We are proud to have been one of Kim and LVEJO's allies in the work to retire Midwest Generation's old, dirty Fisk and Crawford coal plants in Chicago last year. The pollution from these two plants caused significant health problems for kids and adults in the nearby neighborhoods, including increasing the number of asthma attacks suffered by Kim's children.

LVEJO and dozens of other organizations, including Sierra Club, joined together in the Chicago Clean Power Coalition to push for the coal plants to be cleaned up or retired. The coalition was powerful because it was led by frontline community members who not only marched in the streets, but also sat at the decision-making table. It’s an inspiring model of successful environmental justice work that I hope will get more of the national attention it deserves, thanks to the Goldman Prize.

The impact of the plants on Kim and her children provided a compelling story and images that we will never forget. You might recognize Kim's son Peter from these hard-hitting ads that filled billboards across Chicago.

Kim also shared her story in a powerful op-ed in the Chicago Tribune about her children's struggles with asthma. As a mom, I'll never forget reading this piece, and imagining how frightening it would be to see my own baby struggling for air. In the piece, Kim wrote:

I'm not saying that Fisk and Crawford caused my sons' asthma. After all, there's industry everywhere in our community - it's a regular toxic soup. But Fisk and Crawford depend on outdated technology, and they're impacting my environment more than anyone else. I don't necessarily blame them for causing my kids' asthma, but I do blame them for making it worse.

My husband Stan and I are also trying to do our best by our kids. We try to make sure they eat healthy food and get lots of physical activity to strengthen their lungs. But we can only do so much. After that it falls on our city, state and federal government to provide Peter and Anthony and all the other little kids with a clean environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency last week featured Kim's path to activism on its environmental justice blog. In the blog, Kim highlights her commitment to engaging young people in environmental justice advocacy, and points to her latest focus bringing more green space to Little Village.

Here is how Christine Nannicelli, a Sierra Club organizer who has worked closely with Kim over the years, described her:

"Kim worked on these issues for over a decade, and at a time when many people were scared to talk about them. Ultimately, Kim stood up and said her family in Little Village, and other working class Latino families on Chicago's southwest side, have just as much right to breathe clean air as wealthy white people on the north side. That was the blunt reality, and Kim called it like she saw it."

We joined activists from communities all over Chicago and celebrated alongside Kim and residents of Little Village when Midwest Generation formally announced that Fisk and Crawford would be retired. Those victories wouldn't have happened without Kim, LVEJO did and their decade of tremendous work organizing creative events to raise awareness and call for the closure of Fisk and Crawford.

Today, we join with many of those same activists in celebrating North America's newest Goldman Prize winner. Congratulations to Kim for this well-deserved honor. The world needs more wonderful activists like her.

-- Mary Anne Hitt, Beyond Coal Campaign Director

Moapa to Lead Powerful, Symbolic Walk from Coal to Clean Energy

Heather Moyer — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:51:48 -0700

The 2012 Moapa Band of Paiutes "Walk from Coal to Clean Energy."

Southern Nevada's Moapa Band of Paiutes are organizing a 16-mile "Walk from Coal to Clean Energy" on April 20, 2013 in concert with Earth Day. This walk will celebrate the tribe's efforts to retire the polluting Reid Gardner coal plant that adjoins their tribal lands, and also their success in developing the largest solar project on tribal lands in the nation, which will begin construction later this year. The walk will start at the coal plant and end at the solar site - a powerful symbol of change for Nevada and the nation.

The Moapa and a broad coalition of environmental and community groups in Nevada have been pushing to retire NV Energy's Reid Gardner coal plant for many years. A recent announcement by NV Energy CEO Michael Yackira that the company wants to retire its coal plants and contracts early and replace them with renewable energy and natural gas power is a key milepost in the decades-long struggle of the Moapa for environmental justice.

"Coal is a fuel of the past in our state" - that's how Yackira put it, in a recent interview discussing the announcement. The company has drafted legislation to be considered by the Nevada legislature that would allow the coal plant retirements.

So on Earth Day, tribal leaders and members, as well as other tribes from the region, will walk 16 miles starting at sunup and arriving at the solar plant site by mid-afternoon. Environmental activists and other community supporters will meet them to rally and celebrate this important milestone in their campaign, and to call for the expansion of more renewable energy like solar, wind, and geothermal for Nevada's clean energy future.

Grassroots supporters from throughout southern Nevada will meet at a location 1.5 miles from the rally site (about 40 miles northeast of Las Vegas) and walk to the site. The rally will feature a drum circle and several speakers including William Anderson, Chairman of the Tribal Council, and Allison Chin, President of the Sierra Club. It will conclude with a round dance by the Moapa Band of Paiutes.

The Reid Gardner coal plant is located directly adjacent to the tribal community, only a few hundred feet from the nearest homes. Built beginning in the 1960s, it is a source of serious air and water contamination. Over the decades the Moapa have experienced many health problems that are likely related to the plant, including very high rates of asthma, heart disease and cancer.

The Moapa were featured in Sierra magazine's recent "Cost of Coal" series, too.

The Moapa and other organizations like the Sierra Club and the Nevada Clean Energy Campaign are hopeful that NV Energy's change in strategy will ultimately lead to a just, fair and environmentally sound resolution to close the Reid Gardner plant and move Nevada quickly to a clean energy future.

The city of Los Angeles has already agreed to purchase the energy from the Moapa solar project, as part of the city's commitment to move beyond coal, announced just last month by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Al Gore, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune, and others. We look forward to keeping the clean energy momentum rolling with this powerful, symbolic march.

For more information about the "Walk from Coal to Clean Energy" on April 20, please contact Sierra Club Organizer Elspeth DiMarzio at (702) 732-7750 or elspeth.cordua@sierraclub.org. Second photo by Craig Rock.

-- Mary Anne Hitt, Beyond Coal Campaign Director

Climate and Clean Energy Events Nationwide: Fighting for Environmental Justice in Omaha

Heather Moyer — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:12:16 -0700

Ever since President Obama invited the American public to a national climate conversation, thousands of Americans have taken him up on that offer by participating in town hall meetings held by the Sierra Club and our allies.

I'd like to highlight one of these events I found particularly powerful and worthy of more attention.

North Omaha, Nebraska, is home to one of the dirtiest coal plants in the nation, the North Omaha coal plant operated by Omaha Public Power District. The NAACP ranked it the 16th worst environmental justice offender in the nation (although with recent coal plant closures and retirements, it's now in the top ten).

This coal plant is poisoning the air in the neighborhood. According to Graham Jordison, a Beyond Coal organizer in North Omaha, "North Omaha is largely an African American population with an average household income of $17,000. The asthma rate in this community is 20%."

To that end, the Sierra Club has been working with allies such as Black Men United and The Malcolm X Foundation to move beyond coal and secure more clean energy for Omaha and the entire state. The fight for clean air in Omaha has even started new partnerships in the city: the NAACP's Omaha branch spoke out at a recent Omaha Public Power District board meeting, voicing concerns about the North Omaha coal plant and air pollution.

Another reason moving beyond coal in Nebraska is so exciting? The state's enormous clean energy potential.

"Nebraska is the state with the nation's fourth greatest potential for wind energy and is ranked ninth for solar power potential," said Graham.

Graham said the local partners have organized many community meetings to educate and organize residents. They've held energy efficiency forums and more - but in the past few weeks came two events that show the power of North Omaha's families.

"First, a record number of people showed up to Omaha Public Power Districts board meeting to deliver comments on retiring the North Omaha coal plant," said Graham. "They got an immediate response from the board and a promise from the CEO, Gary Gates, to meet in the following weeks.

"Then on March 23 we had an environmental justice forum at the Malcolm X Foundation (birth site of Malcolm X) that turned out a record number of people and spurred some deep discussion on the coal plant and environmental racism."

North Omaha's residents - and Americans nationwide - know that coal poisons our air and water. They're tired of the asthma attacks, the ER visits, the code red air quality days where kids can't play outside.

I'm inspired by the people of North Omaha and the amazing community partnerships forming locally. There are faith groups, the NAACP, the Sierra Club, and so many others who are committed clean air and local clean energy development. They know the future is brighter without coal, that clean energy and energy efficiency create jobs and won't cause asthma attacks.

Graham says it best: "We are building a powerful movement here in Omaha! We are rich with passion and we are winning!"

Find more great clean energy events and climate town halls on our StandWithThePlanet.com website.

-- Mary Anne Hitt, Beyond Coal Director

Protecting Northwest Communities from Coal Dust Pollution

Heather Moyer — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 09:51:58 -0700

Photo from a coal export public hearing.

This week, the Sierra Club, several Waterkeepers, and other allies in the Northwest filed legal action that put companies on notice for coal pollution coming off of trains and polluting the region. The Pacific Northwest is home to some of the most spectacular, legendary waterways on the planet, such as the Columbia River Gorge and Puget Sound. Residents grow, eat, and export foods that are economic mainstays for the region and are prized around the world -- from vegetables to wine to salmon.

Yet the health and safety of the residents and this economy are threatened by proposed massive increases in coal exports through the region. Thousands of railcars loaded with coal are already traveling through communities, and coal rocks and dust are falling and blowing off the cars alongside, and into, the waterways. Coal companies have grand plans to vastly increase those coal shipments through the Northwest and export the coal to Asia -- plans that local communities and tens of thousands of residents are battling fiercely and effectively.

"We have people living in areas currently affected by coal trains, who are facing the threat of more coal traffic from proposed coal export projects, and they are already finding coal chunks and dust discharged in public waterways," said Cesia Kearns, a Beyond Coal campaign representative and acting director of the Power Past Coal coalition in the Pacific Northwest.

That's why the Sierra Club joined Puget Soundkeeper, Columbia Riverkeeper, Re-Sources for Sustainable Communities, and Friends of the Columbia Gorge on Tuesday to send a 60-day notice of intent to sue to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) and several coal companies for violations of the federal Clean Water Act.

Even BNSF admits that its four daily coal trains moving through Washington lose a staggering 120 tons of coal dust daily. Residents are worried this number would only increase if the five proposed coal export terminals planned for the region are built. Those new terminals would add an additional 60 trains through Washington every day -- a staggering increase!

These trains (and the ones already moving through the region) carry coal mined in Wyoming and Montana's Powder River Basin. This coal contains mercury, arsenic, uranium, and hundreds of other toxins harmful to human health and to fish and other aquatic life. The Clean Water Act exists to protect our health and well-being -- and, under the Clean Water Act, anyone dumping pollutants or fill into U.S. waters must first obtain what is known as a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit or a Section 404 dredge-and-fill permit.

"Discovering the impacts of coal transportation by rail right now illustrates how much more problematic pollution from increased coal exports could become for local communities, and for our food,water, families, and economies," said Cesia.

A huge crowd at a recent coal export public hearing in the Pacific Northwest.

For years communities have been asked to bear the financial, health, and quality of life costs of mining, transporting, and burning coal. These costs should be covered by the companies, not American families. Meanwhile, this legal action should also underscore for the Army Corps of Engineers how critical it is to complete a full, cumulative impacts analysis of all the proposed coal export projects through an area-wide environmental impact statement.

The Sierra Club and our amazing coalition partners will hold polluters accountable for violating the law and call attention to the many dangers of much more coal coming through Pacific Northwest communities.

With such vast wind and solar power resources, the Pacific Northwest should be a leader in clean energy, not a thoroughfare for massive, polluting coal exports. Just last week, the governors of Washington and Oregon sent a letter to the White House calling on them to fully evaluate the climate and air pollution impacts of the proposed coal export terminals. It was yet another sign of how controversial these projects are in the Northwest, and a reminder that these ill-advised coal export plans will ultimately affect us all, and the fate of our planet.

-- Mary Anne Hitt, Beyond Coal Director