Students Make a Difference Against Michigan Coal Plant

The Sierra Club's Move Beyond Coal team was excited with last week's news that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rejected Northern Michigan University’s air permit for its proposed coal plant in Marquette.

The students in our Sierra Student Coalition at Northern Michigan University (NMU) had a big impact on this ruling. They, along with a coalition of other student organizations spent a significant amount of time organizing for public hearings, making and collecting statements, increasing visibility and campaigning for the Renewable Standard the state passed last year. 

Students at NMU were a critical voice against this plant, rallying at public hearings and engaging the student body to oppose it.  This ruling by the EPA confirms what students and young people from across Michigan have been demanding - that we need to end our dependence on the dirty fules of the past and invest in clean, renewable energy that will create good jobs in Michigan. 

This week, students from NMU will be traveling to Washington, D.C. with a group of 400 other young people from the state to Power Shift '09, where they will take their demands for a clean energy future to Congress and the White House at the largest climate lobby day in U.S. history. 

Congratulations to these hard-working students.

Thanks to Kim Teplitzky and Brandon Knight for their help with this post. Photos courtesy of NMU's SSC and Miriam Moeller of the Mining Journal.