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Group calls for moratorium on coal plants Thursday, Feb 7, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Opponents of a proposed coal-fired power plant in Southwest Arkansas called on Gov. Mike Beebe Wednesday to impose a moratorium on new coal plants in the state. The Arkansas Coalition for Clean Energy delivered a letter and a petition signed by 1,054 people to Beebe's office shortly after noon Wednesday. The group wants Beebe to halt any permits for coal plants until the commission he appointed last year to study global warming can present its recommendations to the governor and the Legislature. Specifically, the group wants Beebe to stop the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality from issuing a permit to Southwestern Electric Power Co. for the proposed John W. Turk Power Plant near Fulton. The group also wants Beebe to stop ADEQ from issuing a permit to Dynegy/LS Power for a second boiler at the Plum Point Plant currently under construction near Osceola. ADEQ has already approved the plant's first boiler, but the company is considering adding a second unit. Jessica DeLoach, president of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Young Democrats, said building new coal facilities would render the Global Warming Commission's work meaningless. "The simple fact is this: No matter how successful the commission is in reducing our carbon emissions, those reductions will be utterly dwarfed by the millions of tons of emissions coming out of these new coal-fired power plants," DeLoach said. Beebe was touring storm-damaged areas of the state Wednesday and was not available for comment. Spokesmen for SWEPCO and LS Power said coal power is necessary to meet their customers' needs. "You cannot meet the needs of our growing economy with alternative fuels such as wind and solar," SWEPCO spokesman Scott McCloud said. "They're out there, but you can't meet baseload generating requirements with them." LS Power spokesman David Byford said the company has projects that use solar and wind power, but that the nation needs a balanced approach to energy generation in which all options are considered. The plant near Osceola will use "some of the latest emissions-control technology available," he added. |
