Written by Natasha and Driah Fast
Santa Puts Georgia Power on Naughty List!
Georgia Power is a Water Grinch while Others Go Without
Students and concerned citizens gathered at the Georgia Power Company Headquarters Friday at 2pm on Piedmont Avenue in Atlanta to call attention to Georgia Power’s role in the state’s severe water crisis. The crowd of 40 some attendees, organized by Georgia Students for Sustainability, dressed as Santa Klaus and his many elf helpers, announced the Atlanta based company was on “Santa’s Drought Naughty List.” Attendees encouraged the company to reevaluate their proposals for new water-intensive electricity generation plants in the state, and to instead invest heavily into energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Atlanta’s severe drought has caused many citizens to criticize Georgia Power’s disregard for water mandates in the state. A new report released Tuesday shows that the Atlanta-based company failed to meet six water-reduction mandates set for ten of its north Georgia plants. “Coal and nuclear electricity plants are the states largest water consumer, using over 3.3 billion gallons of water a day across the state” said Georgia State student Bret O’Connor, “We want Georgia Power to think of the citizens of Atlanta and commit to ending their use of these wasteful technologies.”
Citizens entered the Georgia Power building to sing Christmas carols to the employees to the tune of “let it snow” and Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”:
“The taste of water is sweat, but we have none to drink
We fear that it’s to late, because Georgia Power has drank our lakes.
Ohh, I fell into a coal burning fire, the waters went down down down
and the flames went higher, Coal burning fire! Coal burning fire!”
Santa Klaus also presented the company with an official certificate for being on his naughty list, citing their irresposnible water consumption and for proposals for new nuclear plants that would continue that consumption, as well as for operating the #1 and #3 highest Carbon emitting plants in the country, Plants Scherer and Plant Bowen
Georgia Power has submitted proposals to develop two new nuclear reactors at their plant Vogtle site on the Savannah River, and Dynegy/LS Power is moving forward to develop a large coal-fired facility in southwestern Georgia. Roughly sixty-eight percent of the states’ surface water is already used for electricity production. “Georgia Power’s plans to continue irresponsible water use is unacceptable for the citizens who depend on that water for their livelihood” said GSS organizer and student Trey Gunning, “That’s why they have been placed on Santa’s Drought Naughty List”
Three students were eventually allowed to speak with Exectutive Vice President Christoffer Womack. The students met with Mr. Womack and several other members of the company’s board to express their concerns over the need for large scale investments in efficiency, emphasizing the need to terminate plans to expand their Plant Vogtle site, and to come up with plans to clean up, or take off-line their largest polluting plants. “Investments in efficiency and renewable energies like solar power, can meet and reduce projected energy demand while greatly reducing the utilities outrageous water consumption” said Gunning.
“The water shortage has resulted in Atlanta being placed under water restrictions the utility companies are excused from. GSS feels that companies such as Georgia Power should acknowledge the role they need to play in water conservation especially in the severity of the states’ current drought situation,” said Natasha Fast, a GSS member from Valdosta State University.
Georgia Students for Sustainability is the Georgia chapter of the Southern Energy Network, a youth-led organization operating to build an inclusive movement to finding real solutions to climate change.
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If anyone wants to use our Christmas Police tickets for actions like this, check out the site of S.A.N.T.A. (Sustainability Action Network and Toy Alliance) at http://www.energyjustice.net/santa/. Seth made an awesome water-focused custom version of our Christmas Police tickets. If anyone else would like to do so as well, contact me.
According to the US Geological Survey, about 3% of fresh water is used for steam-turbine power plants (including solar thermal plants that also using cooling water) in the US and 80% of fresh water is used for irrigating crops. I am not a fan of coal, but it sounds like there is more water to save from improving agriculture than going after power plants.
R Margolis - be careful when citing Wikipedia - not always the best source for information. I’m not sure where they got their 3% cite (that I assume you are quoting), but according to the most recent USGS survey of water use in 2000 - they attribute to power plants a much higher pecent of national water usage:
“Thermoelectric-power withdrawals accounted for 48 percent of total water use, 39 percent of total freshwater withdrawals for all categories, and 52 percent of fresh surface-water withdrawals.” http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wupt.html
And regardless - looking at the national picture isn’t the appropriate angle here. Large freshwater supplies in Washington State doesn’t help Georgia at all. If 68% of Georgia’s surface water is going to fuel dirty power plants - that should be yet another prime reason to examine our energy supplies.
Water usage is also another prime reason why carbon-capture and sequestration is at best a misdirected effort, and in my opinion a deadly corporate-led deception. As we are already seeing water shortages globally, and expect to see further increases in such problems - why continue to push for a “solution” that requires even more water use?
As Colbert might put it - “We’re using lots of water to burn fossil fools that are destroying our climate and causing water shortages. I propose we use even more water to burn more fossil fuels in the name of stopping climate change and saving water!”
See my previous post on water issues and coal/CCS at: http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2007/12/11/yet-another-reason-ccs-is-not-a-solution/
Haha! Awesome action Georgia folks. Keep rocking it up there!
I stand corrected. My guess is the 3% represents evaporative losses (i.e., most cooling water from rivers and lakes goes right back into their source).
Go Atlanta, go after wasteful consumption; go for conservation; follow-up your prayers with more actions. Coax the government and local councils for effective short-term and long-term actions and hold them accountable for results.
great work y’all! the band and i will see you in February
R Margolis - I’ve seen figures saying 33% losses through evapouration, although of course the figures vary. 3% seems very low.
In any case, to get to the power plants, the water has already left Lake Lanier and the intakes downstream, so it is still no help that the heated waste water is dumped back in the river.
Investing in distributed solar energy and other renewables, as the protest demanded, although it makes the energy corporations almost redundant, nevertheless would be the best use of the money the power corporations have.
Should the power corporations, using 68% of Georgia’s water, let Atlanta run dry?
The 3% value is probably for once-through cooling without cooling towers. Cooling towers evaporate a higher percentage of the water flow, but uses less water overall.
Also, water and power production are intertwined. Without electric power, water cannot be pumped or treated. After all, Lake Lanier was originally created for power production (i.e., Buford Dam) and other uses. You will not believe how many times I am asked by folks, “what a beautiful lake, why did they put a power plant there?” not realizing that the lake is artificial and was built for the power plant.