Comments on: MOVING TOWARDS A MORATORIUM ON COAL: RECENT VICTORIES

By: The Flaming Grasshopper » Blog Archive » Solar power too cheap to meter? Well, not quite, but we can dream!

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:35:59 +0000

[...] oh my. What that means is that the movement to establish a moratorium on all new coal-powered electricity plants has one more debating point on its side. (More on the moratorium, and more, and more, and [...]

By: Houston to North Carolina: NO NEW COAL! « It’s Getting Hot In Here

Houston to North Carolina: NO NEW COAL! « It’s Getting Hot In Here — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:00:41 +0000

[...] Energy , Impacted Communities , global warming As Kansas and other states take the lead in shutting down the possibility for new coal, citizens across North Carolina are taking all efforts to stop the NC Department of Air Quality [...]

By: Harry Reid Says No New Coal « It’s Getting Hot In Here

Harry Reid Says No New Coal « It’s Getting Hot In Here — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 22:22:17 +0000

[...] For more information about the many recent victories leading towards a moratorium on coal, check here. [...]

By: Is the Coal Rush Over? « It’s Getting Hot In Here

Is the Coal Rush Over? « It’s Getting Hot In Here — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:59:21 +0000

[...] Coal’s Doubters Block New Wave Of Power Plants They highlight a number of examples that we broke on It’s Getting Hot in Here, such as the blocking of the Everglades coal plant or the Minnesota IGCC coal [...]

By: Roger

Roger — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 23:42:59 +0000

NRG dropped plans to build a 630MW IGCC coal plant in Montville Connecticut, deciding to pursue a combined-cycle gas plant that could later be converted to run on gasified coal. Their bid to build the gas plant was rejected by the CT DPUC in April 2007.

By: Margo Landry

Margo Landry — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:29:12 +0000

The Senate really dropped the ball when they didn’t add the amendment funneling oil subsidies to alternative energy. The billions being spent for “clean coal” should go to development of advanced geothermal, which can economically replace coal for baseload generation. Geothermal is already economical in some Western states but even the eastern states could use it with a little more research.
http://www.ormat.com
http://pesn.com/2007/01/22/9500449_MIT_Geothermal_Report/

By: jonathanwsmith

jonathanwsmith — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 00:24:03 +0000

Winning the battle is his-story. With trillions of dollars involved, just for one company, it behooves eco-warriors to eschew short victories and stay vigilant, mindful of the end result rather than the win-loss column.

By: Matt Leonard

Matt Leonard — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 23:57:12 +0000

You are correct that our campaign at RAN is focusing on the banks that are financing coal development – but we are working to develop a broader “coal moratorium” platform with other allies. This is in the works, and we hope to have it going public soon. We hope that such a platform will help clarify some of the public misconceptions on the “need” for coal development, and give policy-makers more public support for building a green energy future.

Sierra Club is running a solid coal campaign, and are heavily involved on-the-ground in fighting many specific proposed plants. It’s a safe bet that almost any proposed coal plant is going to be facing lawsuits, often thanks to Sierra Club. Co-Op America has been fighting coal development as well – working with RAN on the banking angle as well as on specific companies like Dominion, Peabody and others. US Climate Emergency Council is doing great work, and Union of Concerned Scientists have been fighting coal development as well.

And even national groups that aren’t calling for a moratorium (but may be supportive of IGCC plants for example) are often helping in this momentum. By simply raising the controversy and costs of coal (financial, reputational and otherwise) – they are helping make coal unnattractive to investors, operators, utilities commisions and the public. And with election-time nearing, lots of non-traditional groups like MoveOn have even been tackling coal-to-liquids issues and making sure that the coal lobby doesn’t trample right through Congress…

-Matt

By: brownyn

brownyn — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 23:55:28 +0000

This is very hopeful stuff. Thanks for putting it all together in one place.

Why hasn’t the New York Times caught on to this trend?

By: Jon Warnow

Jon Warnow — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 23:30:53 +0000

Matt, thanks for posting such a badass and inspiring list of victories–certainly seems like the coal fight is gaining much-needed momentum. Early in your post, you mentioned ‘national campaigns calling for a coal moratorium’, which is GREAT to hear–I didn’t know about these (I was only aware of RAN’s Dirty Money finance-focused campaign), and have always thought that a big grassroots national coal moratorium campaign needs to come together ASAP. What are these campaigns you referred to? What action is happening on the ground to support them? I’m very curious.