EM:/ The lie behind the term "clean coal" in Michigan

A slight correction Anne, nitrous oxides are currently regulated by the 
state and feds.  Nitrous oxides are a Criteria Pollutant under the Clean 
Air Act.  Mark.

Anne Woiwode wrote:
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> Friends:
>
>  
>
> I was recently asked to comment on why Sierra Club would not support 
> "clean coal" technologies as a way to meet energy needs in our state.  
> The simple answer is that "clean coal technology" does not exist.  The 
> term is being used by the coal industry and power plant proponents to 
> sell their wares (and make a tidy profit), and is usually couched in 
> terms suggesting that the proposed new plants would be cleaner than 
> existing one and are therefore "clean."
>
>  
>
> But there is pretty no way to get to "clean" coal mining, and the 
> amount of mercury, acid rain precursors, soot and greenhouse gases to 
> be produced from even the as yet unbuilt new coal plants enormous.  
> Coal mining today involves strip mining in the Powder River Basin and 
> "mountain top removal" in the Appalachians, both of which have 
> devastating and permanent impacts on the land, and cause air and water 
> pollution as well as threats to communities.  The Wikipedia site 
> describing mountain top removal 
> (http://www.deq.state.mi.us/aps/downloads/permits/PubNotice/341-07/341-07%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf) 
> provides an overview, and a variety of organizations calling for the 
> end of this practice, including Sierra Club at 
> http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/mtr/ go to the politics and policies 
> that promote these destructive practices.
>
>  
>
> And the current proposals for coal plants in Michigan (still out for 
> public comment!) are far from clean!  If you visit the Department of 
> Environmental Quality's fact sheet on the proposed Consumers Energy 
> plant in Essexville at 
> http://www.deq.state.mi.us/aps/downloads/permits/PubNotice/341-07/341-07%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf 
> and go to page 7, you'll see a chart that lists the proposed emissions 
> from this new plant that Consumers has argued is "clean".  The same is 
> true for Wolverine Power Cooperatives so called "Clean Energy 
> Venture," the original DEQ fact sheet for which is at 
> http://www.deq.state.mi.us/aps/downloads/permits/PubNotice/317-07/317-07%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf 
>  with expected emissions on page 5 of the pdf (there have been some 
> changes and a new submission on soot may change it again, but there 
> are substantial emissions proposed) and the Holland Board of Public 
> Works permit application 
> (http://www.deq.state.mi.us/aps/downloads/permits/PubNotice/25-07/25-07%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf 
> on page 5 of the pdf).
>
>  
>
> In addition, global warming gases such carbon dioxide and nitrous 
> oxides are not regulated by the DEQ today, and the applicants for new 
> coal fired power plants have not been able to demonstrate that they 
> will in fact capture and permanently remove these pollutants from the 
> air.  Keep in mind that coal plants are already the largest single 
> source of greenhouse gases in the country. There are references to 
> future plans that might help control greenhouse gases that are not 
> actually part of the permit applications, but there are no proven 
> technologies to do that today.  These companies are seeking permission 
> to build plants _today_, with today's technology.  In fact, the plant 
> proposals in Michigan are not proposing to build plants that today are 
> the only ones considered to be greenhouse gas control ready 
> (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle or IGCC), but are opting for 
> less expensive plants that would impose a much larger cost later, if 
> technology to sequester these gases were successfully developed.
>
>  
>
> Lastly, even if they succeed in getting all of the regulated 
> pollutants out of the air, the ash that is collected and is full of 
> mercury and other pollutants has to be disposed of as well.  Next to 
> the proposed Consumers site in Essexville is its smaller existing coal 
> fired power plants that has an ash disposal lagoon that has been 
> leaking toxic contaminants into Saginaw Bay for many years (see 
> article from the Bay City Times at 
> http://blog.mlive.com/bctimes/2008/10/ash_landfills_at_consumers_ene.html 
> ).  And the second largest emitter of mercury in Michigan, if not the 
> Great Lakes, is a cement factory in Alpena (Lafarge) that takes ash 
> from coal fired power plants and processes it into cement, ironically 
> and disturbingly re-emitting the captured mercury from the coal plant 
> ash (see http://www.ejmagazine.com/2009a/15.mercury.html ).
>
>  
>
> "Clean coal" is a marketing term designed to try to convince the 
> public and regulators that there is a way to clean up this dirty 
> technology, when in reality it is just not the case.  Michigan needs 
> to make sure we don't get stuck with the cost and impact of dirty, 
> polluting coal plants because of the marketing campaigns of those who 
> stand to make huge amounts of money from these plants.
>
>  
>
> Anne
>
>  
>
>  
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Anne Woiwode, State Director
>
> Sierra Club Michigan Chapter
>
> 109 E. Grand River Ave, Lansing, MI 48906
>
> 517-484-2372     anne.woiwode at sierraclub.org 
> <mailto:anne.woiwode at sierraclub.org>
>
>  
>
> Support Sierra Club Michigan Chapter!  Go to 
> http://tiny.cc/MISierraClubSupport to make your donation!
>
>  
>
> //"Is it fair to call climate denial a form of treason? Isn't it 
> politics as usual? Yes, it is --- and that's why it's 
> unforgivable."//  Paul Krugman, NYT, 6.29.09
>
>  
>
>
>
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