The Front Porch Blog « Appalachian Voices

Tenn Tuesday: Energy Savings! Victories!

Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 | Posted by JW Randolph

…HaslamConnectedLobbyistSellingPublicLandstoCoalCompanies! OH MY!!

Good morning, and welcome to your Tennessee Tuesday, our weekly holler from your Tennessee hills.

Dozers push coal in front of what looks to me like a head-of-hollow fill near the Claiborne-Campbell County line. Drop us a note in the comments to say hello, let us know a bit about yourself, what you’re interested in and what stories we might be missing. It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Volunteer State in the world of energy, TVA and Congress, so let’s get right to it.

Victories!
Believe it or not, both houses of Congress, with support from both parties, are moving on important pieces of legislation to protect our mountains, and to promote energy efficiency.

As several Appalachian Tennesseans came to Washington, D.C., the bi-partisan Clean Water Protection Act was introduced by Congressmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Dave Reichert (R-WA), and already has more than 50 cosponsors from both parties and from all across the nation. The Clean Water Protection Act is a simple bill that would make it illegal for coal companies to perform the “valley fills” associated with mountaintop removal coal mining. Congressman Cooper (D-TN-05) and Congressman Cohen (D-TN-09) are both original cosponsors of the bill! You can call them using the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 to say “thanks for cosponsoring the Clean Water Protection Act, and for protecting our mountains.”

We had a fantastic victory in the U.S. Senate, where the Senate Energy Committee passed a bipartisan Energy Savings Bill (S 761) by a vote of 19-3. Senator Alexander sits on this panel and voted AYE, and you can call his office at 202-224-4944 to say “thanks for supporting S 761 and promoting energy efficiency for our country.” This bill, introduced by Senators Shaheen (D-NH) and Portman (R-OH), would save energy by improving building codes, while incentivizing industrial energy efficiency and promoting energy savings at federal buildings. That bill now moves on to the Senate floor while the House counterpart (HR 1616) awaits committee action.

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Rushed Anti-Renewable Energy Bill Stalls in Committee

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013 | Posted by Davis Wax

Shine On: Clean energy in North Carolina will continue to create jobs and yield benefits after a bill to repeal the state's renewable standard failed in committee today. Image licensed under Creative Commons.

A bill in the N.C. House that would repeal the state’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (REPS) failed today in the House Committee on Public Utilities and Energy by a vote of 18-13.

According to the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association talk of insufficient votes in the Environment Committee prompted Rep. Mike Hager to withdraw the “Affordable and Reliable Electricity Act” from the committee’s scheduled hearing in order to attempt to push it through the Public Utilities Committee, which he chairs.

“If the only way a business can move forward is with a subsidy, then maybe we need to rethink the business,” said Hager, a former Duke Energy employee and the bill’s primary sponsor. Fellow lawmakers responded by saying that Duke Energy has an effective subsidy through its huge monopoly on electricity distribution in the state and that subsidies have been used to help up-and-coming industries for decades.

Even after Hager agreed to keep the 12.5 percent commitment to renewable energy from retail sales of state utilities in the bill in order to make it more appealing, a bipartisan majority including several key Republicans in the Utilities Committee still killed the legislation. In the most recent version Hager pushed through, the bill would still allow companies like Duke Energy to let their renewable energy contracts run out without expecting them to pursue any further commitments to wind, solar, biomass, or other industries.

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EPA Releases Proposal To Update Clean Water Act Standards for Power Plant Pollution

Monday, April 22nd, 2013 | Posted by Sandra Diaz

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finally proposed a range of options to regulate waste water from power plants which are responsible for half of the nation’s water pollution. While the public comment period has yet to begin, a public hearing is schedule for July 9th in Washington, DC.

More details on the rule itself, and how to submit your comments will be become available on appvoices.org/rww/power-plant-waste/

Below is a press statement from Appalachian Voices and a number of allied organizations.

After 30 years of inaction, EPA finally proposes plans for power plant water pollution includes options protecting waters from toxic pollution as well as weaker standards that maintain the status quo

Washington, D.C. – The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a number of regulatory options late last Friday night, known as steam electric effluent limitation guidelines for power plants, two of which will finally clean up water pollution from hundreds of power plants.

Power plant water discharges are filled with toxic pollution such as mercury, arsenic, lead, and selenium – heavy metals that can cause neurological and developmental damage, cause harm in utero, damage internal organs and cause cancer. Power plants are the biggest sources of water pollution in the country, yet the EPA has not reviewed regulations for this industry in more than 30 years. To address this unacceptable delay, environmental groups filed a lawsuit in 2010 to force the EPA to take action and regulate this dirty industry.

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Canvassing Against Coal Ash

Friday, March 15th, 2013 | Posted by Matt Grimley

The Red, White & Water team hit the streets near Belmont, N.C., to speak with residents who live near Duke Energy's G.G. Allen Steam Station about the threats of coal ash pollution.

Last Saturday, the Red, White and Water team traveled to Belmont, N.C., to the G.G. Allen Steam Station for a day of canvassing. Walking door-to-door, we asked residents of the communities near the coal-fired power plant if they had been impacted by water pollution.

I met Archie Dixon, who was featured in the Gaston Gazette a few months ago. Dixon had complained to Duke Energy, which owns the power plant, about coal ash staining his property and getting into his drinking water. I spoke with him while he and his grandson (also named Archie, or “Lil’ Arch”) waited for a plumber for a broken pipe on their property. In his garage sat a waist-high stack of bottled water. Mr. Dixon said that he still refuses to drink his own home’s water.

The pollution near the plant happens in two ways. One is through coal ash ponds. Coal ash is the waste byproduct from burning coal and it contains contaminants such as arsenic, mercury and chromium. Because the one active coal ash pond at G.G. Allen is an unlined impoundment, these toxics can seep into groundwater. Tests near the plant have revealed exceedances in manganese, iron and nickel in the groundwater.

Effluent is the other form of pollution at G.G. Allen — the plant wastewater that discharges directly into the surface waters of nearby Lake Wylie. Under the Clean Water Act, permits are issued for each of the plant’s discharge points. These permits, however, only set limits for traditional pollutants, including oil and grease, “total suspended solids” and pH. They rarely limit pollutants such as mercury, selenium, and arsenic. And with a lack of federal guidelines, many states don’t set their own permit limits for these toxic chemicals.

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Renewed Resolve: Pushing for Energy Reform in Virginia

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013 | Posted by Nathan Jenkins

Appalachian Voices remains committed to achieving a more robust renewable energy policy that brings clean energy and good jobs to the commonwealth.

Reform of Virginia’s renewable energy law was in the spotlight on both sides of the political spectrum in the General Assembly this year. In the end, only a few adjustments were made to the law, none of which encourage the vibrant solar and wind industries that Virginians want, nor support a market for small businesses promoting renewable technologies.

But the shortcomings of Virginia’s latest legislative session have only strengthened Appalachian Voices’ resolve to achieve a more robust renewable energy policy that actually brings clean energy and good jobs to the commonwealth.

Laws have been enacted in 38 states to encourage the development of the renewable energy industry – and they have ushered in cleaner air and job growth. In some of those states, the industry is growing exponentially, in thousands of jobs and tens of thousands of clean megawatts.

Virginia has had a renewable energy law since 2007, but utilities have purchased credits rather than investing in Virginia jobs. At times, state law has been interpreted so that utilities cannot invest in renewable energy despite the enactment of renewable energy goals.

Appalachian Voices hoped to fix that during this year’s legislative session by advocating for a requirement that Virginia utilities could only use new wind and solar power built in Virginia to satisfy the law. Instead, a law spawned by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli simply removed financial incentives for renewable energy and ignored our fix, despite support from the utilities.

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N.C. Rep. Pricey Harrison to Make Case for Federal Environmental Protections

Thursday, February 14th, 2013 | Posted by Brian Sewell

North Carolina Rep. Pricey Harrison will testify at a House subcommittee hearing on the states' role in environmental protection.

On Friday morning, North Carolina Rep. Pricey Harrison will testify before a House hearing on “the role of the states in protecting the environment under current law.” It’s an area she knows a lot about – in 2007, Harrison introduced a bill to prohibit utilities in North Carolina from purchasing or burning coal from mountaintop removal mines.

Subcommittee members will hear testimony on issues related to current laws including the Safe Drinking Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act under which states are given the primary authority to regulate wastewater and coal ash pollution.

Watch Rep. Pricey Harrison’s testimony and the hearing Friday at 9:30 a.m. here.

During tomorrow’s hearing, Harrison will likely focus on the concerns of North Carolinians surrounding coal ash and the state’s failure to adequately protect communities and local waterways. The problem of coal ash is growing in North Carolina, and even as Duke Energy begins to retire ancient coal-fired power plants, the state has no clear plan on how to deal with legacy ash disposal sites that will remain long after plants are closed.

Learn about the hazards and history of coal ash sites in North Carolina and across the Southeast.

Duke merged with Progress Energy last year to become the largest utility in the country. Meanwhile, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is coming off a fresh round of budget cuts, and faces continued uncertainty if North Carolina lawmakers continue on their current path.

Adding insult to injury, nearly every step of the process to bring fracking to North Carolina has been haphazardly handled. Now, the state General Assembly has introduced a law to circumvent the rule-making commission it put in place, you know, if it isn’t moving fast enough.

North Carolina has a history of environmental leadership, but recent proposals in the state legislature, including a reckless plan to remove all the members of several environmental commissions, are threatening to reverse that trend.

Lawmakers are on an anti-regulatory bender in the Tarheel State. And without federal oversight North Carolinians will be at risk as underfunded state agencies work to enforce environmental rules while finding ways to prevent the next budget cut.

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“I’m Here Because I Love Mountains:” Watch a speech by Appalachian Voices’ JW Randolph

Tuesday, February 12th, 2013 | Posted by

On Feb. 8, Appalachian Voices Tennessee Director, JW Randolph, spoke to members of the state legislature, the media and the environmental community. Below is a video and the transcript of his speech in support of the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, a bill to protect the state’s virgin ridgelines from mountaintop removal coal mining.

Hello, my name is JW Randolph, and I’m proud to serve as the Tennessee Director for Appalachian Voices. I’m here to speak with you for a few minutes about efforts to protect Tennessee’s mountains, but first I want to thank the members that have joined us here this morning. Chairman Southerland and Representative Gilmore have both supported the Scenic Vistas Protection Act, and we’re happy you’re here. We’re thankful to you both and look forward to continuing to work with you to pass this important legislation. I would also like to thank those in attendance for engaging in the democratic process, and finally I’d like to thank the Tennessee Environmental Council, Gretchen Hagle, John McFadden and your team. You guys are great leaders in this movement here in Tennessee and for us here on Capitol Hill, we all appreciate you and the work you do.

I’m here because I love mountains. I grew up in a log cabin my father built in the woods, on the banks of the Tennessee River. And like many of you, I got to know my family, my place, and our history through walking the beautiful woods and waters of middle Tennessee, fishing, hiking, and 4-wheeling. The time spent in these mountains taught me about freedom, responsibility and self-reliance. This was where I learned the best of home, the best of our state, and the best of what our country has to offer. As I got older, I learned that not too far away, near our ancestral land, coal companies were blasting apart the mountains, and poisoning the streams that we ran through.

My daughter will turn two years old this month. When I was her age, there were 500 mountains across Appalachia that are no longer there. Since then there have been 2000 miles of streams buried by mining waste, and 125-square miles of The Cumberland Plateau that has been altered irrevocably. That is why its important that Tennesseans join the effort to pass the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act.

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N.C. Environmental Commissions Under Attack by Senate Bill 10

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013 | Posted by Davis Wax

Update: In about 48 hours, with almost no chance for public input, the North Carolina state Senate passed a poorly designed bill to fire all current members from several N.C. advisory boards and commissions, including the Utilities Commission and Environmental Management Commission. Give your state Rep. a call today and ask that they oppose this legislative overstep and actually govern. [http://www.ncleg.net/representation/WhoRepresentsMe.aspx]

An unprecedented power grab is in the works in North Carolina, where Republican majority leaders are looking to cut and replace environmental and other key decision-makers on the party’s own terms.

State Sen. Bill Rabon introduced SB 10 aimed at removing environmental experts from state committees. Photo credit to ncleg.net.

The N.C. Senate Rules Committee met on Feb. 5 concerning Senate Bill 10, the “Government Reorganization and Efficiency Act,” legislation that seeks to remove 131 members of eight influential state boards and commissions before their terms are up. This action would see the effective gutting of environmental experts from the state’s decision-making process and the likely appointment of new, pro-industry members.

If there were ever a time to send a message to your North Carolina state senator, it would be now. Call them or email them today!

Among the committees being affected are the Coastal Resources Commission, the Environmental Management Commission, the Industrial Commission, and the Wildlife Resources Commission. Most importantly, the bill would allow the General Assembly and the governor to hand-pick replacements.

The number of environmentally-focused boards possibly being stripped of their membership could spell disaster for ongoing projects concerned with regulating pollution and protecting the environment. The new commission members would not have the level of expertise or the familiarity with the projects of current members, thus ensuring the degradation of the state’s progress toward proper environmental protection.

That’s not the whole story, though, as further steps are being taken to weaken the influence of environmentally-conscious voices in the legislature.

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Turning a Win-Win into a Lose-Lose: Virginia Senate Kills Renewable Energy Bill

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013 | Posted by Nathan Jenkins

Rather than fixing a problem, Virginia lawmakers prolonged it when they killed legislation to reform the state's renewable energy portfolio standard.

Last fall, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli latched on to the idea that Dominion Virginia Power and Appalachian Power did not deserve huge bonuses for buying cheap renewable energy credits without actually building wind and solar projects in Virginia, and released an unsolicited report on the issue.

Appalachian Voices and our partners in the Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition have long advocated that the bonuses were failing to develop the renewable energy industry in the state and that a legislative fix is in order. The Senate Commerce & Labor Committee reached the same conclusion and tasked Cuccinelli and the utilities to work out an agreement, which they did.

The problem is that Cuccinelli, while claiming to resolve concerns from the environmental community, failed to invite us to the table. The result was a bill that simply dropped the bonuses, but did not replace those incentives with a mandate to build renewable energy in Virginia or even a preference for better quality credits.

The Wise Energy coalition worked with Senator Donald McEachin and Delegate Alfonso Lopez on legislation that requires credits purchased by utilities to be from the newest and cleanest sources of renewable energy. The proposal was carefully crafted with the singular goal of picking up where the attorney general’s bill left off, but it actually solves the problem of misplaced incentives and the lack of investment in Virginia wind and solar power.

It was a reasonable measure. However, despite strong supporting testimony from our unlikely ally — even Dominion said it was the “best solution” for solving the credits problem — it failed in a House Commerce and Labor subcommittee last week. The Republican chairman, Delegate Terry Kilgore, and his colleagues refused to address the problem.

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Despite Positive PR for Duke Energy, Our Water is Still at Risk

Friday, February 1st, 2013 | Posted by Sandra Diaz

Duke Energy announced it would retire the Riverbend Power Plant in April, two years ahead of schedule. A good headline, but water is still being put at risk.

Don’t like what people are saying about you? Change the conversation!

Duke Energy has gotten a ton of mileage for their decision to retire or convert some of their older, more inefficient power plants in the Tarheel State. It’s environmentally-friendly after all – recycling news stories!

And you can create a whole new news story by moving your timeline. Duke Energy announced today they will be retiring their octogenarian coal plants, Riverbend in Gaston County and Buck in Rowan County this April, nearly two years ahead of schedule.

And while we are happy that Mountain Island Lake and the Yadkin River will be suffering from less pollution from toxic heavy metals like arsenic, selenium, chromium and so on, could it be that Duke Energy is trying to distract from the PR crisis they are currently facing around their leaking coal ash impoundments?

Like the fact that Western North Carolina Alliance intends to pursue legal action against Progress Energy for not complying with the Clean Water Act and allowing illegal discharges into the French Broad River. Or that the Catawba Riverkeeper has documented seeps into Mountain Island Lake, Charlotte’s drinking water supply, and Lake Wylie. Or how about that the Cape Fear Riverkeeper is reporting high arsenic levels in groundwater near well water supplies at the Sutton plant in Wilmington.

On top of that, Duke University scientists publishing reports that seem to back up many of these claims. So while Duke’s announcement is indeed good news for water, we need to continue to hold Duke and Progress accountable. There is more to be done.

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Coal Ash: Now a Part of a Balanced Breakfast

Thursday, January 31st, 2013 | Posted by Hallie Carde

This just in: in addition to fruits and veggies, our nation’s children should be getting their daily dose of coal ash. Or at least that’s what statements at a public hearing in Franklin County, Missouri, seem to suggest.

Just last week, there was a hearing for a lawsuit filed by the Labadie Environmental Organization over a zoning amendment that would allow Ameren Corp. to construct a new coal ash landfill in the heart of a floodplain. Toxicologist Dr. Lisa J.N. Bradley, testifying on behalf of Ameren Energy Corporation, said, “A child could consume coal ash every day and have no increased exposure to arsenic.”

Bradley was recently elected to the Executive Committee of the American Coal Ash Association, a lobbying organization whose membership includes Ameren, Duke Energy, Southern Company and other large coal-burning utilities. Unfortunately, it seems that conflict of interest was lost on Associate Circuit Court Judge Robert D. Schollmeyer, who dismissed the lawsuit citing Bradley’s testimony.

Maximiliano Calcano, age 2, is one of the first children born with a dramatic birth defect attributed to the coal ash dumping in the Dominican Republic.

There are many who have had to face the traumatic effects of toxic coal ash firsthand. Following the AES Corporation’s dumping of 80,000 tons of coal ash waste along the shores of the Dominican Republic between 2003 and 2004, the country’s women have suffered years of consistent miscarriages, abnormal levels of arsenic in their blood, and births to babies with cranial deformities, external organs, and missing limbs.

While we have yet to uncover such a horrific case here in the states, concerns over coal ash are real. Archie Dixon lives just south of Belmont, N.C., where Duke Energy’s coal ash ponds are some of his closest and most unwelcome neighbors. Distrustful of the visible grime and discoloration of his water, Mr. Dixon has been buying bottled water for years, unwilling to ingest the water from his home’s private well. Despite reassurance from Duke Energy officials who say that lab tests show that the sediment in Mr. Dixon’s water is of naturally occurring materials, he refuses to take any risks with his water. Dixon is not the only member of his community concerned about coal ash.

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Renewing the Push for Renewable Energy in Virginia

Thursday, January 24th, 2013 | Posted by Nathan Jenkins

State-by-state Renewable Portfolio Standards. Map from Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency.

Each year, as Virginia’s General Assembly convenes, lawmakers are confronted with hundreds of proposals running the gamut from education to energy. Many involve complicated issues, and many are distorted by corporate interests and political posturing.

This year the legislature is grappling with a key renewable energy law, known as the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which it passed in 2007. An RPS sets a certain percentage of a utility’s power that comes from renewable sources; the intent is to spur modern technologies such as wind turbines or solar panels.

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have a mandatory RPS with strict standards. In those states, thousands of megawatts of wind and solar energy is powering homes and businesses, and the renewable energy industry is producing thousands of new jobs every year.

In Virginia, the RPS is voluntary – and has not led to the construction of a single wind turbine or solar panel in the commonwealth. The RPS law provides significant financial rewards – paid for by ratepayers – as a way to encourage utilities to use renewables. It also has a very loose definition of what constitutes renewable energy, making it easier for utilities to meet the goal, and get their reward. Which they’ve done handily. Dominion Virginia Power has received $77 million in RPS bonuses, and Appalachian Power Company has received $15 million. They relied almost entirely on existing hydro-power dams, most built before WWII, and credits purchased from renewable facilities in other states, to meet the goal.

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New Report Explores the Frontiers of Energy Efficiency

Saturday, January 19th, 2013 | Posted by Brian Sewell

A new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy explores the next generation of energy efficiency. Each year, the council releases a state scorecard ranking states based on energy efficiency policy and programs. Graphic from ACEEE

After combing through the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s far-reaching report, Frontiers of Energy Efficiency: Next Generation Programs Reach for High Energy Savings, it would be hard not to have high hopes for a more efficient future.

Surveying 22 residential, commercial and industrial energy savings programs, the Frontiers of Energy Efficiency report estimates that advances in energy efficiency could reduce forecasted electricity use by as much as 27 percent by 2030.

“Natural gas isn’t the only abundant energy resource in this country — we’ve also discovered deep reservoirs of energy efficiency,” Dan York, ACEEE utilities program director, and lead-author of the report says. “Even as tried and true energy efficiency measures become commonplace, we continue to dig deeper and find new technologies and practices plus new program approaches to unlock further opportunities to achieve large energy savings.”

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Welcome to Virginia’s Energy Conference, with your host King Coal

Thursday, October 11th, 2012 | Posted by Nathan Jenkins

Last week, Appalachian Voices and members of the Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition attended the Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s Energy Conference. Looking at the agenda, we were prepared for what would surely be a biased conference. But we didn’t know it would be this bad.

At every stage of the conference, the coal companies and electric utilities that survive on dirty energy completely suppressed the arguments for investment in energy efficiency and renewable generation. The state’s largest utilities, Dominion Virginia Power and Appalachian Energy, along with mountaintop removal giant Alpha Natural Resources, were the conferences top sponsors. Those sponsorships influenced the agenda, just as they influence in the Virginia General Assembly.

Virginia's energy policy is so concerned with how to keep coal relevant, Gov. McDonnell might as well wear his sponsors on his sleeve.

Dominion spent more than $5.5 million during the last decade in exchange for a hand in writing the laws under which it is regulated. That investment has proven worthwhile considering that Dominion stands to take in a $76 million bonus for spending less than $8 million on “clean” energy from other states, while building no new wind or solar in Virginia. This is just one of examples of corporate influence on energy policy reported in a white paper written by Appalachian Voices, the Sierra Club, and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

Use of coal for electricity generation is declining in the Southeast, largely due to market forces. While there is a lot of natural gas coming out of some of our neighbor states, we do not have much in Virginia. What we do have is a vast potential for energy efficiency and renewable generation, yet this conference refused to acknowledge this or take the rapidly growing wind and solar industries seriously.

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Report Exposes How Big Coal, Electric Utility Money Dominates Virginia Politics and Policy

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012 | Posted by Brian Sewell

How devoted is Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell to dirty energy donations? Read our report to find out.

In advance of the Governor’s Energy Conference that is sponsored by Dominion Virginia Power, Alpha Natural Resources and Appalachian Power Company, Appalachian Voices and our allies released a white paper highlighting the influence that coal companies and utilities wield over Virginia energy policy.

“The top sponsors of the energy conference are also top sponsors of Virginia’s election campaigns,” said Tom Cormons, Virginia Director for Appalachian Voices. “Unfortunately, these companies dominate Virginia’s energy policy, just as they dominate the conference agenda. This harms consumers and taxpayers, and it may be the single greatest impediment to transitioning the commonwealth to a cleaner, healthier energy future.”

Analyzing more than a decade of publicly available data, the report draws the connection between the campaign contributions and corporate gifts from these and other dirty energy companies, and the poor record of Virginia in advancing energy efficiency and renewable programs compared to other states.

The report goes on to criticize the state’s voluntary Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard, which Chesapeake Climate Action Network Virginia State Director Beth Kemler calls “the holy grail of corporate handouts.” The misguided RPS program set marks that Dominion has been able to meet without building any wind or solar projects in Virginia. By meeting the RPS goals, Dominion qualifies for a bonus that will end up costing customers approximately $76 million over two years.

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Ten Years In, the Clean Smokestacks Act Continues to Benefit Us All

Saturday, September 1st, 2012 | Posted by Brian Sewell

Right now, members of Congress are at home hearing from their constituents about the issues they most care about. In this spirit, we joined residents of North Carolina working on water issues to visit the Charlotte office Sen. Kay Hagan. It was exciting to be in the Queen City, as it gears up for the Democratic National Convention, which Appalachian Voices will participate in next week.

On the issues important to us, Senator Hagan has voted on the side of clean air and water. She opposed a Senate Joint Resolution to overturn the Mercury and Air Toxics Rule, which will greatly reduce the amount of mercury that coal-fired power plants contribute to that air, water and fish. Hagan also opposed overturning the Cross-State Air Pollution rule which unfortunately has been having some trouble in the courts.

We took advantage of the opportunity to thank her for these votes, and encouraged her to remain strong on these issues, as we suspect these attacks will continue into the new Congress. The 112th Congress has been rated as one of the most anti-environmental Congresses ever, with 31 votes to undermine Clean Water Act protections and a total of 247 anti-environmental votes since January of 2011.

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A One-Two Punch in the Fight for Clean Water

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012 | Posted by Brian Sewell

It has been a week of good news in the fight for stronger protections against coal ash pollution. A court settlement in South Carolina and a major decision regarding the 2008 TVA Kingston coal ash spill make for a one-two punch against the poorly regulated toxic waste.

A federal court found that the Tennessee Valley Authority is ultimately liable for the December 2008 coal ash spill. The failed pond at TVA's Kingston Plant released more than one billion gallons of toxic coal ash and covered 300 acres.

This morning, a federal court ruled that the Tennessee Valley Authority is liable for the massive coal ash spill at its Kingston Plant in December 2008. In his written opinion, U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan ruled that the spill resulted ultimately from TVA’s “negligent nondiscretionary conduct” — far from the unpredictable geologic event that TVA lawyers claimed was the cause during the trial.

In fact, we know more than ever just how preventable the catastrophic spill was. In the months following the event, an engineering firm hired by TVA issued a report that identified the unstable layer of soil beneath the coal ash which had gone undetected for decades as TVA continued to pile on larger amounts of the toxic waste. Subsequent reports revealed internal agency memos that contained warnings that could have prevented the spill. And in his ruling, Varlan was sure to mention that had TVA investigated and addressed the unstable pond, the spill might have been avoided.

Shorty after the coal ash pond failed, it became clear that the Kingston spill would become the worst environmental disaster of its kind in American history. TVA initially estimated that 1.7 million cubic yards burst from the pond and into the Emory and Clinch Rivers. They later had to revise that estimate to more than 5.4 million cubic yards — more than a billion gallons and 100 times larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

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Another Setback for the Much Needed Cross-State Pollution Rule

Tuesday, August 21st, 2012 | Posted by Thom Kay

The EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule that was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday would improve air quality for an estimated 240 million Americans and prevent between 13,000 to 34,000 premature deaths each year.

A critical clean air rule from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which would help provide cleaner air for an estimated 240 million Americans — including Appalachians — was dealt a setback today by the U.S. Court of Appeals which rejected the rule 2-to-1.

Finalized in August 2011, the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule would help prevent pollution from power plants in one state from reaching downwind states. EPA estimates that the rule would prevent between 13,000 and 34,000 premature deaths by 2014, along with preventing thousands of nonfatal heart attacks, asthma attacks, sick days and other negative health impacts associated with air pollution.

The rule focuses on the reduction of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. These pollutants are emitted mostly from coal-fired power plants, particularly plants concentrated in the Southeast that burn high-sulfur Central Appalachian coal, much of which is from mountaintop removal mines.

Advocacy groups across the country are already calling for the Obama administration to appeal the ruling, and we fully expect them to do so. The other option is to start from scratch, delaying much needed pollution limits even longer.

That is not an alternative we can live with.

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Half-Baked Coal Ash Bill: A Dangerous Proposition for Our Air and Water

Friday, August 3rd, 2012 | Posted by Sandra Diaz

Air and Water Protections are as American As Apple Pie — and they are under attack.

Most people talk about creating legislation in terms of sausage-making. It can be downright dirty work. But I prefer to think of it as pie-baking, requiring the combination of concentrated efforts while keeping the final product in mind.

Though I am new to the world of baking, I have quickly learned one thing: no matter how great your filling, it is ultimately the crust that makes — or breaks — your pie. The filling is the easy part; just throw some fruit, flour, spices and sugar together – and voila! Pie crusts are very tricky though. If you get a temperature or an ingredient wrong, it doesn’t matter what’s in the pie — the integrity of your pie is toast.

A Bad Pie is like a Bad Bill... But with dire consequences

What does this have do with latest version of the Senate coal ash bill, introduced and sponsored by a number of Southeast Senators like Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Jim Webb and Mark Warner (both from Va.), Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.).?

The bill is being touted as a compromise of legislation that passed in the House and was first introduced in the Senate last fall. But while minimal improvements have been made to the filling of this legislation, its still a terrible pie overall.

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New Report Details How Duke Energy Can Save the Carolinas Billions

Friday, July 27th, 2012 | Posted by Sandra Diaz

This is a repost from Greenpeace’s Quit Coal blog, written by their NC Organizer, Monica Embrey..

Amidst a whirlwind of controversy this past month, the new Duke Energy has an opportunity to lead the country and act in the best interest of its ratepayers, shareholders and the planet.

Today, Greenpeace released our report (PDF) that details how Duke can be a true renewable energy leader and end their dirty business practices. By embracing renewable energy and energy efficiency, Duke and Progress can save North and South Carolina customers over $100 billion dollars through 2032.

Our plan — Charting the Correction Course: A Clean Energy Pathway for Duke Energy—highlights specific solutions to benefit both the company and its customers, and explains how for the Carolinas cleaner is cheaper.

Duke currently runs a dirty business. As the nation’s largest utility, Duke operates 28 coal-fired power plants across the United States, half of which are located in the Carolinas. The city of Charlotte is surrounded by 4 of Duke’s dirty coal plants and is ranked the 5th worst city to live in for people who have asthma. Residents in communities like Mt Holly, NC near the 83 year old Riverbend Coal Plant face much higher rates of learning disabilities in children and cancer in adults because of the pollution from toxic coal ash ponds to the local water supply. The carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions from Duke’s aging coal fleet are higher than national and regional averages. Despite massive PR campaigns, Duke’s plants operate at the expense of neighboring communities.

The cost of Duke’s dirty coal plants impact not only the health and local environment, but also the pocketbooks of hard working customers. If Duke continues on its current plan, it’s estimated that within the next ten years, electricity rates in the Carolinas would quadruple and increase nearly 20-fold by 2032 in order to pay for the company’s proposed dirty energy construction. For the next twenty years, the Carolinas would source the majority of their power from 70-plus year old coal plants and deteriorating nuclear plants, while doubling the company’s exposure to volatile natural gas prices. Higher rates in these tough economic times are already causing many families to choose between paying for medical bills and keeping the lights on. In North Carolina, we are already seeing multiple rate hikes to pay for dirty energy sources.

But Duke Energy doesn’t need to continue to operate a dirty business. Instead, it can invest in real renewable energy solutions that are a win-win for people, the planet and the company. It’s time that Duke’s green rhetoric matches its portfolio reality. We’ve laid out the pathway. What step will Duke Energy and its CEO Jim Rogers take?

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