About 350 people packed a Richmond VA meeting room last night to sound off on a proposed Southwest Virginia coal-fired power plant that is becoming a hot issue across the state. The room was filled with the musk of lobbyists, politicians, and coal officials standing hawkishly in the back waiting for those who would speak out against the plant. Overall, about 115 people signed up to speak at the state Department of Environmental Quality hearing last night, including over 30 students from 8 different colleges and universities representing the statewide clean energy activist coalition, Virginia Climate Action Network. Their message was simple. Young people are going to have to deal with the problems of tomorrow while Wise County residents are already dealing with the problems with antiquated coal and mountain top removal TODAY. Please email comments opposing the 585 MW Coal Plant to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality here by March 12th.
Dominion Virginia Power wants to build the $1.8 billion plant near St. Paul in Wise County, VA that would burn primarily waste coal and would be compatible with Carbon Capture and Sequestration technology once that technology becomes commercially viable. VA Coal officials have even commented that this technology is 10-15 years away at BEST. Dominion Virginia Power is also spinning their wheels trying to fund “Green” Carbon Capture technology at Virginia Tech to mask true clean renewable energy solutions.
Each year the plant would release 5.3 million tons of carbon dioxide and would cause harmful effects to the health of the entire region. This project under Virginia law would be paid for by the wonderful Virginia ratepayers who still have no clue what this plant would mean to their pocketbooks, their daily health, or the future of the Commonwealth.
With less than two years left in Governor Kaine’s tenure as the leader of the great Commonwealth of Virginia, questions are starting to get raised as to whether his partnership with big industrial interests such as Dominion will threaten his ability to get another job. An article on Grist seems to paint a picture of a Governor whose stock is rapidly falling due to his steadfast support of Virginia’s major polluters. The author cites figures from the Virginia Public Access Project (vpap.org) that states that Tim Kaine has received over $135,000 from Dominion… no wonder he hasn’t spoken out against Dominions Wise County Coal fired power plant…
So who is the Governor going to be loyal to? Dominion Power and their money, or the hundreds of thousands of Virginians that were the ones that voted him into office by the narrowest of margins? Right now, it looks like he is standing by Dominion.
Governor Kaine can’t buy another term as Virginia’s governor with Dominion’s money, but he can buy himself some national attention and save his reputation by stopping the Wise County coal plant.
America wants a leader Mr. Kaine, not another industry stooge.
This power plant will be your legacy whether you like it or not. It is up to you how the legacy will read.
Click here to tell the Governor to stop the Wise County plant today!
Subscribe by Email!
Subscribe by RSS!
Share on Facebook
Great to see so many students getting active on this! Do you think Gov. Kaine will listen?
If you don’t like coal, there is hope. Support North Anna Nuclear Unit 3. Nuclear is the largest source of non-carbon emitting energy in the United States BY FAR. Preventing more than 700 million metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere last year, it provides over 70% of ALL non-carbon-emitting energy.