Marshalltown Coal Plant Proposal under Fire
By Carrie La Seur, Ph.D., J.D., President, Plains Justice
By Carrie La Seur, Ph.D., J.D., President, Plains Justice
National Experts Testify in Opposition; Dr. James Hansen to return home to testify against coal, global warming
Dr. James Hansen, noted climate scientist and international voice for global warming solutions, grew up in Denison, Iowa and is testifying for the first time in such a case. Hansen and experts Dr. Neil Harl, Professor Emeritus of Agriculture and Economics at Iowa State University; Tom Sanzillo, former First Deputy Comptroller for the State of New York; and Dr. Kristen Welker-Hood, Director of Environmental and Health Programs for Physicians for Social Responsibility, have filed testimony and will appear at the IUB public hearing in January as witnesses for the coalition. Plains Justice attorneys Carrie La Seur of Mount Vernon and Jana Linderman of Cedar Rapids are representing Community Energy Solutions, Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Renewable Energy Association and the Iowa chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility.
"If we cannot stop the building of more coal-fired power plants, those coal trains will be death trains no less gruesome than if they were boxcars headed to crematoria, loaded with uncountable irreplaceable species," said Dr. Hansen, who is testifying as a private citizen. "It is important in this proceeding for the decision makers to realize that the least cost technology to the firm generating the electricity is not the least cost for society," Dr. Harl notes.
Dr. Welker-Hood testifies that "emissions from the operation of [the Marshalltown plant] would negate more than 90 percent of the CO2 reductions that would be achieved in New York State under draft regulations for implementing the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative." Expert witness Sanzillo concludes bluntly that the plant is "unnecessary."
The massive new plant is proposed for the east side of Marshalltown, adjacent to a smaller existing coal plant. Damage inflicted by the plant may include "diminution of the value of the state's existing renewable energy generation facilities, damage to the development of new renewable energy generation facilities, displacement of renewable energy from the grid, increases in retail electricity rates, damage to air and water quality, increased fuel costs due to inefficient ethanol refining processes, civil rights violations of minority communities targeted by the highly polluting coal industry, damage to Iowa's ecosystem and agricultural economy from the increasing impacts of global warming, violation of state energy policy, and future damage to electricity consumers who will pay the eventual cost of carbon regulation," according to the petition drafted by Plains Justice.
The 660 MW coal plant proposed by Wisconsin-based Alliant Energy would emit approximately 6,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year. Alliant projects a 40% increase in emissions in the next 7 years, making them one of the worst global warming offenders in the Midwest. The Iowa Utility Association, of which Alliant is a member, recently commissioned a study that demonstrated that capacity for nearly 1,000 MW of cost-effective energy efficiency potential is available in their service territory in the next ten years at half the cost of Alliant's proposed coal plant. Kansas and Florida regulators rejected similar large coal plant proposals in 2007 because of global warming impacts.
Sally Wilson, a biology professor at Marshalltown Community College and member of Community Energy Solutions, opposes the plant as a private citizen. "We deserve clean air and water as much as any other town in Iowa," says Wilson. "There's no reason for Iowa to be building more coal plants. It is critical that we protect our environment for the health of our community and its members. We are dependent on clean air and water," says Wilson. "It makes no sense to build a coal plant when much better alternatives are now available."
The Iowa Utilities Board will hold public hearings starting January 14th in Marshalltown.
"The single most important action needed to decrease the present large planetary imbalance driving climate change is curtailment of CO2 emissions from coal burning," said Dr. Hansen. "Because of the danger of passing the ice sheet tipping point, even the emissions from one Iowa coal plant, with emissions of 6,000,000 tons of CO2 per year, could be important as 'the straw on the camel's back'."
The full text of the Plains Justice petition and the direct testimony of the joint intervenors' four expert witnesses are available here
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Carrie La Seur, Ph.D., J.D.
President
Plains Justice
100 First Street SW
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404
Work: 319-362-2120
Cell: 319-560-4729
Fax: 866-484-2373
http://www.plainsjustice.org