Randy Francisco, Sierra Club, Pennsylvania, 412-802-6161
Anna Frazier, Coordinator, Diné CARE, 928-380-7697
Rob Disney, Sierra Club, Las Vegas, 702-518-0188
COAL PLANT FAILS IN PENNSYLVANIA COAL COUNTRY
Health Risks and Controversy
Remain At Sites in NM And NV
KARTHAUS (PA) – An international energy developer financed
by the giant equity firm, the Blackstone Group, has abandoned plans for a
proposed 300 megawatt waste-coal power plant in rural Pennsylvania.
Sithe Global, which is also behind the proposed Toquop coal
plant in Nevada and the Desert Rock plant on the Navajo reservation in New
Mexico, announced on Tuesday they were canceling the $600 million River Hill
plant near Karthaus, Pennsylvania due to financing difficulties.
Progress on Sithe’s other two coal projects has also stalled
as a result of permitting and financing difficulties, along with intense
opposition from local communities that have alleged the potential harm to their
air, water and health far outweighs any economic benefits, and that the company
should instead be investing in innovative clean energy sources.
“We have suspected for a long time that the River Hill project
was very tenuous at best,” said Randy Francisco, of the Sierra Club in Pennsylvania. “It says a
lot about the viability of these dirty coal plant proposals when they can’t get
taxpayer bailouts and they can’t make them pencil out even with the backing
from a company the size of Blackstone.”
Anna Frazier, coordinator for Dine’ CARE said that the
Desert Rock plant is also on equally shaky ground after losing their air permit
from the EPA, their permit for the transmission right-of-way needed to get the
power to southwest markets, and also being denied their request for $450
million in federal stimulus dollars, all in just 2009.
“The Navajo communities of Northwest New
Mexico have always been opposed to Sithe Global’s proposed Desert
Rock plant so we are encouraged by the cancellation of the River Hill project,”
said Frazier. “In an area that is already under siege from the pollution from
fossil fuels development, Desert Rock has been a six-year black hole that has
wasted millions of dollars that could have been used to bring clean-energy
projects to our region.”
Sithe’s proposed Toquop plant near Mesquite, Nevada,
originally proposed as a natural gas-fired plant, has been on the drawing board
for years but still does not have a pollution permit, an approved BLM
environmental study, and last year lost the rights to water it needs for plant
operations.
“We’ve been trying to persuade Sithe for years to focus on
developing Nevada’s
vast solar and wind resources instead of outdated and dirty coal,” said
Mesquite Mayor Susan Holecheck. “Hopefully, Sithe’s decision to abandon the Pennsylvania plant is a signal that we can soon put the
nail in Toquop’s coffin, too, and get it out of the way for clean-energy jobs
and economic development in Nevada.”
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Coalition Launches New No Blackstone Coal Campaign
The Blackstone Group and Sithe Global are in the process of developing plans for three large, dirty coal-fired power plants in the United States. These include the Desert Rock Energy Project, the Toquop Energy Project, and the River Hills Energy Project.
The plants would produce over 2,500 megawatts of electricity for 50 years and, combined, would emit over 20 million tons of toxic pollutants in the form of airborne emissions and spent coal ash, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, selenium and a variety of heavy metals, while also displacing real opportunities for clean, renewable energy and the jobs that come with them. Adding insult to injury, over 1 billion tons of CO2 would be released into the air you breathe and the water you drink over the lifetime of the plants.
Join Senator Reid to Talk About a Clean Energy Economy -National Clean Energy Summit 2.0
WHEN: August 10th 2009
WHERE: University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Cox Pavilion
WHAT: High-level industry leaders, scientists,
policy experts, and public officials, along with citizens and the
media, will gather in Nevada for a day-long summit hosted by the Center
for American Progress Action Fund, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid (D-NV), and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This year’s
summit will bring together the nation’s top minds including former Vice President Al Gore, energy executive T. Boone Pickens, White House Council on Environmental Quality Special Advisor Van Jones, Nevada State AFL-CIO executive Danny Thompson, and many others to chart a course for our nation's clean energy future.
WHY: 2009 provides a pivotal opportunity for our
nation to come together to define a policy agenda that accelerates the
deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency, creates good jobs,
advances energy independence, and ensures long term economic prosperity
for Nevada, the nation, and the world. We hope you will join the
conversation.
Nevada is at the epicenter in the debate of how America should generate
and use energy in the future. Nevada has abundant clean energy sources
such as solar, wind, geothermal, and efficiency technologies that could
be developed to meet its future energy needs. The question is whether
Nevadans—and all Americans—will shift to a clean energy economy that
creates less expensive and more efficient energy, cleaner air, clean
energy markets, and the creation of good new jobs that strengthen and
grow our economy in Nevada, the nation, and the world.
We owe it to our children and grandchildren to protect the air they
breathe and our nation’s great outdoors. Nevada has the opportunity to
do that and lead the nation in a clean energy revolution by developing
clean, renewable energy and efficiency technologies that will meet the
state’s current and future energy demands.
Once again, America can lead the way. Developing new technologies will
result in a robust clean energy economy our country can be proud of
while creating good-paying jobs and diversifying our economy while not
polluting our air.
This is our vision for America’s future. And the National Clean Energy Summit is a pivotal opportunity to help get us there.
The Blackstone Group and Sithe Global are in the process of developing plans for three large, dirty coal-fired power plants in the United States. These include the Desert Rock Energy Project, the Toquop Energy Project, and the River Hills Energy Project.
Polling reveals Nevadans support clean energy and understand the threat of Global Warming. You can read a summary of the polls here:
