So we all know about the coal rush and we saw the over the top ads in the New York Times and the New Yorker, right? Well, everyone was focused on the 151 coal plants that were going to be built in this country and how they were going to lock us into dirty energy sources for the next generation. We got out and organized, fought back, hit hard…and are winning. The plans to build 16 coal plants have been scrapped since May, with dozens of other projects being delayed. In fact, only 121 coal projects are still considered ‘viable’ and 76 ‘uncertain’ of whether they will be built. In a first, Kansas rejected a coal plant due to its role in contributing to Global Warming. Emboldened by Massachusetts vs. EPA, their top regulator acted, even though Kansas does not regulate CO2.
“I believe it would be irresponsible to ignore emerging information about the contribution of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to climate change and the potential harm to our environment and health if we do nothing,” said Rod Bremby, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment – Source
So, when Kansas is rejecting coal plants due to concerns over Global Warming, we know that our efforts have gone mainstream. However, not all the reasons that coal plants are not being built here are so positive. One reason that coal plants are not being built is due to their rising cost, because materials and skilled labor is limited and has raised prices 40% for new construction. Why? China is purchasing all the coal plants it can, which is sobering news for us all. At least, when they build a new coal plant they shut down old, inefficient ones…a trick we haven’t figured out yet, but nonetheless a wakeup call for everybody still focused on domestic legislation without looking at the Bali Mandate.
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Turn off the coal and oil, and turn on the sun! 10% of planned coal plants off the table…. only 135 more to go….! This is encouraging news. With higher electricity costs, consumers will actually pay attention to what is being left on and wasted. Of course, those with limited or fixed incomes will suffer, but there may be a solution coming just in time, at http://www.NewEnglandSun.com, which allows homeowners nationwide to use solar-based electricity.
We have plenty of sunlight around, uselessly baking our roofs…. why not use it? Solar hot water is the cheapest of all renewable energy sources- I installed a hot water system for our house, using an 80-gallon storage tank placed in front of our oil boiler, which has been off since May. This will save us about 150 gallons of oil per year, and at today’s price of $2.75/gallon, that comes to $410/year! The system cost was $3000, and with the state and federal return of $1200, the total cost was $1800. This means that in about 6 years, the system will be paid off.
We are also heating our house with wood (http://www.biopellet.net), so we will not be paying Saudi Arabia to heat our house. We are using BioBricks and Wood pellets for heating, at $255/ton (same as a cord of wood), 6 tons, for a total of $1530 for heating. Using oil would have cost us about $1650, saving us about $120– but no “new” carbon dioxide is being added to the air, since wood uses the CO2 that is already in the air.
Use a clothesline if you can: each load dried on the line saves about 5 kWh of electricity, and your clothes smell fresher and will last longer since they are not being mutilated in the drier.
The sun is there… why not use it? America should be using 21st-century electricity now, not 19th century fuels!
We have to do something during Spring Break for this. What about a “shut down coal spring break”? Something like that, where we protest at coal power plants and even convince workers to leave work for the day in protest of coal and in demand for clean energy jobs. Anybody interested in doing something like this?
Thought you might be interested in some of the politics behind the scenes of the Kansas coal permit denial as viewed by a nearby Kansas blogger at EverydayCitizen.com -
http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2007/10/rodney_and_goliath_environment.html
1000 coal plants to be built globally in the next 5 years as coal is currently the cheapest fuel by far as it has no cost assigned to how much CO2 and other pollutants it contains.
the future for some 50 years to come is coal even if we match rusing energy demand with some sustainables and make quick technological breakthroughs that we can roll out across an entire global infrastructure in 20 to 30 years or so.
we are definately running a tight rope of between 2 and 3 C global average temp rise come the mid to end of the century.
You seem pretty sure. Why? Do you not agree that the momentum for coal plants is slowing down?