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No new coal plants until technology improves, panel recommends Friday, Sep 26, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The Governor's Commission on Global Warming on Thursday adopted the last of about 50 policy recommendations, including a moratorium on new coal plants in the state until better pollution-control technology becomes available. In an 11-10 vote, the commission adopted a recommendation that no new coal plants be built in Arkansas until carbon sequestration technology, which captures and stores carbon dioxide emissions rather than releasing them into the atmosphere, is ready. Until that technology becomes available, the electricity that would have been generated by new plants should be replaced with renewable energy, increased energy efficiency and, as a last resort, natural gas, the commission said. Created by an act of the Legislature last year, the commission is charged with recommending to the governor and the Legislature ways to reduce Arkansas' contribution to climate change. Matt DeCample, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Beebe, said Thursday he could not say what position Beebe would take on the recommendation against coal power or any other specific recommendation of the commission. "What we want to do is look at their recommendations in their entirety, because we know there's going to be a lot of ideas, and you have to look at the impact beyond just one idea," DeCample said. Southwestern Electric Power Co. is seeking permission to build a $1.5 billion coal-fired power plant near Fulton in Hempstead County. The state Public Service Commission has approved the plant, but SWEPCO's application for an air quality permit from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is still pending. Beebe has said in the past the SWEPCO plant should have every environmental safeguard possible but has said eliminating coal power is "not going to happen tomorrow." ADEQ Director Teresa Marks said Thursday the agency will continue reviewing SWEPCO's application. "It's possible that the Legislature could do something that would have an effect on it, but right now we're moving forward, because these are recommendations, they don't have the force of law," Marks said. In a statement Thursday, SWEPCO said the Hempstead County plant will have the best emission controls now available and will be designed to allow retrofitting for control of greenhouse gas emissions "when such technology is proven on a commercial scale." SWEPCO said it has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the project. "It would not be good public policy to change the rules now after much planning and investment has been done to meet the energy needs of SWEPCO's customers," the company said. Glen Hooks, senior regional representative of the Sierra Club, hailed the commission's action Thursday. He noted the commission's members represent several different sectors of the public, including the energy industry. "It's not just a bunch of environmental groups," Hooks said. "It's a broad-based, inclusive state commission. I think that the governor and the Legislature should take these recommendations seriously when the session starts." The commission's chairman, state Rep. Kathy Webb, D-Little Rock, said the issue of coal power divided the panel. "There were some members of the commission who felt like that was outside our purview and that we should not be discussing it, and then there were other members of the commission who felt like, how could we have a Governor's Commission on Global Warming and not discuss it?" she said. The commission also recommended the construction of new nuclear power plants in Arkansas. The state currently has such plant, Entergy Arkansas' Nuclear One near Russellville. Hooks said the Sierra Club disagrees with that recommendation because of concerns about radioactive waste, though he acknowledged that nuclear power does not contribute to global warming. The commission also made numerous recommendations for improving energy efficiency; recommended creating a consortium to develop renewable energy production facilities and market renewable energy to consumers; and recommended adopting a carbon tax program in conjunction with a national cap-and-trade program for carbon emissions, if a national program becomes a reality. The panel spent more than 160 hours developing its recommendations, Webb said. She said she did not expect every recommendation to become law. "We're going to have to prioritize and try to get the best ones from the commission and hopefully be able to get the governor's support," she said. ------- Arkansas News Bureau reporter Jason Wiest contributed to this report. |
