Clean Energy News

For Immediate Release:
2006-11-14

For More Information:
Contact Jennette Gayer
(404) 892-3573

First Proposed Coal Plant in Nearly Two Decades will Threaten Environment, Energy Security, Economy

Atlanta, GA—In the final week of a comment period for a proposed coal burning power plant in Early County, environmentalists, green energy experts and businessman gathered to call for a more environmental and economically sound solution to Georgia’s energy needs. The proposed 1200 MW plant is larger than most US plants, and would be powered by dirty, last-generation technologies that would do little to secure Georgia’s energy future.

“We’re lining up for a sprint in the wrong direction on energy policy in Georgia,” said Jennette Gayer, advocate with Environment Georgia. “Expanding our dependence on coal brings a host of negatives-- more global warming pollution, threats to our public health, and a bad deal for our economy.”

Currently, Longleaf Energy Associates, a branch of LS Power based in Princeton, New Jersey, holds a draft permit from the Environmental Protection Division to build a 1200 MW conventionally fired coal burning plant in Early County. Annually the plant will:

Emit more than 220 pounds of mercury, a powerful neurotoxin that makes its way into our water supply where it accumulates in fish and the people who eat them to the point that children and women of childbearing age are urged to limit fish consumption;
Release 6,400 tons of sulfur dioxide, a major ingredient in fine particle pollution, linked to premature death and respiratory and cardiovascular disease;
Release 3,700 tons of nitrogen dioxide, a major ingredient in the photochemical smog that plagues many cities across Georgia on summer days, triggering asthma attacks and sending people to the hospital; and
Emit 10 million to 15 million tons of carbon dioxide, the leading global warming gas which vast amounts of scientific evidence link to warming temperatures.

“Companies that build coal-fired power plants today are gambling with their investors money,” said Gayer. “They are betting that operating coal fired power plants will continue to be cheap, despite the near certainty that global warming pollution will be regulated within the lifetime of the plants.”

Environment Georgia called for several solutions that would put Georgia on a more sound energy path. First, Georgia’s leaders should follow the example of states like Idaho where leaders have established a moratorium on new coal plants, in order to evaluate the environmental and economic impacts. Second, our leaders should establish a cap on carbon dioxide pollution, to be lowered over time; third, public money should not be spent on coal technology; and finally, our leaders should dramatically expand programs to develop energy efficiency and renewable energy resources.

“America could substantially reduce its global warming pollution using existing technology to improve energy efficiency and increase the use of clean, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass,” said Patty Durand State Director of the Sierra Club. “What’s more, these steps would be good for America’s economy; creating jobs and improving productivity.”

Public comments can be submitted to Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD) until close of business on Thursday via Environment Georgia’s website www.environmentgeorgia.org.

“We have had the best experts in the country reviewing both the application and the proposed permit,” said Justine Thompson, Executive Director of the Georgia Center for Law in the Public Interest. “Based on their review, we have concluded that the emissions limits selected do not reflect state of the art for pollution controls. Georgia deserves better."

Environment Georgia is a statewide non-profit and non-partisan environmental group.

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