As we gear up to fight FirstEnergy's proposal to buy yet another coal-fired
power plant (later this summer), it is helpful to hear what the Club has
accomplished in Iowa. Why not West Virginia?
Jim Kotcon
The Untold Grassroots History of Iowa's Clean Energy Transformation
<http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/28/1521207/-The-Untold-Grassroots-Hi…>
Mark Kresowik will never forget Merle Bell, the Iowa farmer whose property
near Waterloo, *which had been in his family for more than 100 years*
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhkPx0STmVo>, was to be the site of a
proposed coal plant.
“Merle wanted to see his kids and grandkids inherit their farm, but had
been told that he had virtually no choice but to sell his property and
watch the coal plant developers bulldoze his family’s legacy,” said Mark.
“Instead, more than 500 of his friends, neighbors, and supporters banded
together to protect their land and their lungs, and prevent the dirty
project from ever moving forward.”
When Mark was hired by the Sierra Club in 2006 as our first organizer in
Iowa fighting the Bush-era new coal rush, 75 percent of Iowa’s electricity
came from coal, and there were three more new coal plants on the drawing
board, including the project slated for Merle’s farm.
Fast forward to earlier this month, when Warren Buffett’s Iowa-based
utility*MidAmerican
announced*
<http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2016/04/14/midamerica…>
it
will invest $3.6 billion in a 2,000-megawatt wind project that’s the
largest economic development project in state history. It will bring the
utility to 85 percent wind power by 2020, and it won’t raise electricity
rates by one cent.
What in the world just happened in Iowa?
There’s an untold story here. It begins on that farm in Iowa. Mark had been
hired to fight those proposed Iowa coal plants after one had already
slipped through the cracks, and the news landed on the desks of Bruce
Nilles and Verena Owen, the founders of the Beyond Coal Campaign, who were
based in Illinois.
It was 2002, and they were astonished to learn that not only had a giant
new 800-megawatt coal plant been approved in Iowa – to be built by
MidAmerican, no less – but not one single, solitary person or organization
had even submitted a comment in opposition to the plant. And so with three
more Iowa coal plants on the drawing board, part of a wave of 200 planned
coal plants nationwide, they vowed to never again allow a proposed coal
plant to be left unopposed.
They started in Iowa by hiring a recent college grad, Mark, who had been
inspired by a concerned legislator, then state representative Rob Hogg, to
organize opposition to the proposed Waterloo coal plant. Mark proceeded to
channel his boundless energy into logging thousands of miles and hours
crisscrossing his home state, organizing opposition to all the remaining
coal plants and supporting clean energy, working with partner organizations
large and small. Ultimately, the allies defeated all three, including the
plant proposed by Dynegy and LS Power adjacent to Merle’s farm. As Mark
remembers it,
“More than 300 people turned out to an obscure zoning hearing in Waterloo,
dozens testified against coal and in favor of clean energy before the Iowa
Utilities Board in Marshalltown, and state officials and electric companies
hadn’t seen anything like it before. Merle, his neighbors Gail Mueller and
the Shatzers, and advocates like Plains Justice’s Carrie La Seur completely
turned the public tide against coal and toward wind and solar power for all
Iowans.”
All told, around the nation this movement stopped 184 proposed coal plants
from being built. Blocking those new coal plants changed everything, in
Iowa and nationwide. Specifically, it changed three things: 1) it opened up
new market opportunities for renewable energy, 2) it pulled us back from
the brink of a massive and irrevocable 50-year investment in our most
carbon intensive fossil fuel that would have doomed our climate, and 3) it
increased pressure on the remaining coal plants, which weren’t going to be
replaced by new coal, and therefore faced investment decisions about
whether to modernize or retire.
Since then, our Beyond Coal network has grown to include over 100
organizations and thousands of leaders in 50 states. In Iowa, through
litigation and grassroots advocacy we have secured the retirement of over
2,100 megawatts of existing coal at 35 coal boilers, including the
nation’s *200th
coal plant*
<http://www.sierraclub.org/compass/2015/07/beyond-coal-milestone-coal-plant-…>
to
announce retirement, which happened last year.
As part of that advocacy, we pushed hard to secure ambitious renewable
energy commitments from the state’s utilities as well. In a federal court
settlement with MidAmerican, they agreed to one of the state’s first solar
projects – a new array at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
And that brings back us to MidAmerican’s recent announcement that it will
generate 85 percent of its power from wind energy by 2020 – putting the
utility on track to realize its vision of becoming a 100 percent renewable
energy utility. As *Bruce Nilles put it*
<http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2016/04/warren-buffet-s-midame…>,
“MidAmerican made clean energy history, and raised the bar for every other
utility in the United States.”
In just over a decade, MidAmerican’s generation of electricity has gone
from 70 percent coal to 35 percent coal, and now they’re doubling down
again. In Iowa, an astonishing 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy has been
installed, clean energy is a bi-partisan issue, and it is entirely possible
with a little more prodding that the state’s two utilities, MidAmerican and
Alliant Energy, will cease burning coal entirely within the next decade.
Here’s the best part – this is the kind of state-by-state transformation
we’re working for and realizing all across the country. To be clear, this
kind of progress is moving slower in other states, and with 300 coal plants
still chugging along and coal country in need of support for an economic
transition, we have plenty more work to do. But we’re making progress on
the scale that matters.
While market pressures, federal policy, and innovation all played a role in
that transformation, grassroots advocacy was a critical factor that tipped
the scales and made the difference, harnessing all those forces into a
smart, sustained campaign that is changing the world. In Iowa there would
have been no market opportunity for clean energy investment today if the
state had built three additional coal plants a decade ago.
Our nation’s climate leadership is built on this solid grassroots
foundation, one that is not going to shift with the political winds. With
one third of US coal plants announced to retire, renewable energy providing
the majority of new power on the grid in 2015, and unlimited opportunity
ahead, this clean energy transformation is not just our vision. We’re
making it a reality. *Join us*
<http://content.sierraclub.org/coal/victories>.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Heather Moyer <heather.moyer(a)sierraclub.org>
Date: Thu, Apr 28, 2016 at 4:47 PM
Subject: [Coal Volunteers List] Mary Anne Hitt's latest: The untold
Grassroots History of Iowa's Clean Energy Transformation
To: #Coal <coal-list(a)sierraclub.org>, #Media <media-list(a)sierraclub.org>,
#Coal-Volunteers <coal-volunteers-list(a)sierraclub.org>
Hi folks,
Mary Anne Hitt's latest is about the road from coal to clean energy in Iowa
- please share it far and wide!
*Retweet:*
https://twitter.com/sierraclub/status/725782930430251009
*Possible tweet:*
The Untold Grassroots History of Iowa's Clean Energy Transformation:
bit.ly/1NXNS9F <https://t.co/4RC0VLDkW5> (by @beyondcoal's @maryannehitt)
*LINKS*
*Compass:* http://bit.ly/1NXNS9F
*DailyKos:*
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/28/1521207/-The-Untold-Grassroots-Hi…
*Huffington Post:*
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-anne-hitt/the-untold-grassroots-his_b_97…
--------
*Social media question or request? Please email social-list(a)sierraclub.org
<social-list(a)sierraclub.org>*
*Heather Moyer*
Senior Content Producer
202-675-6276
Sierra Club
50 F Street, 8th Floor
Washington, DC 20001
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To access the Beyond Coal Campaign Resource Portal, go to:
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To sign up for this list, email neha.mathew(a)sierraclub.org with the subject
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Seems to me we did this back in December with our Solar Summit. Perhaps we
should do one where we invite the media?
JBK
A small group of energy efficiency and environmental justice
representatives met Thursday to begin putting together a plan that the
state of Louisiana could institute to meet requirements of the federal
Clean Power Plan
<https://www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan/clean-power-plan-existing-power-plants>.
The Clean Power Plan went into effect October 2015 and is meant to help
reduce the release of carbon dioxide from power plants. The plan has
been...
Full story is at:
http://theadvocate.com/news/15630527-81/environmental-groups-gather-to-cons…
See thread below. Should we plan an action?
JBK
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Matthew Golub <msgolub(a)mix.wvu.edu>
Date: Thu, Apr 28, 2016 at 12:00 PM
Subject: Re: FW: See the Climate Hustle movie next Monday, May 2, 7:00 PM
Regal Theaters, Morgantown
To: James Kotcon <jkotcon(a)wvu.edu>
Cc: wvussc(a)googlegroups.com
It seems that the professor who sent the email made a special arrangement
with the Regal in Morgantown to have a screening, but it doesn't appear to
be on the website yet.
On Apr 28, 2016 11:57 AM, "James Kotcon" <jkotcon(a)wvu.edu> wrote:
> Thanks for catching this. According to their website, it is being shown
> May 2 in Nitro and Bridgeport.
>
>
> Is there a Morgantown showing? Is this something for a protest action?
>
>
> Jim Kotcon
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* wvussc(a)googlegroups.com <wvussc(a)googlegroups.com> on behalf of
> Matthew Golub <msgolub(a)mix.wvu.edu>
> *Sent:* Thursday, April 28, 2016 11:23 AM
> *To:* wvussc(a)googlegroups.com
> *Subject:* Fwd: FW: See the Climate Hustle movie next Monday, May 2, 7:00
> PM Regal Theaters, Morgantown
>
> This email was just sent to all Engineering majors. I checked the film's
> website, and found this interesting tidbit: "CLIMATE HUSTLE will be in
> theaters for a one-night event on Monday, May 2nd, and will include an
> exclusive panel discussion following the film *featuring Gov. Sarah Palin*..."
> I expect credibility to be at an all-time high for this nationwide
> screening. If it were free, I would consider going. I could sure use a good
> laugh to get me through the end of the semester.
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Statler-StudentServices <Statler-StudentServices(a)mail.wvu.edu>
> Date: Thu, Apr 28, 2016 at 10:29 AM
> Subject: FW: See the Climate Hustle movie next Monday, May 2, 7:00 PM
> Regal Theaters, Morgantown
> To: CEMR-STUDENTS(a)listserv.wvu.edu
>
>
> Students and Faculty:
>
>
>
> While I was in Washington DC two weeks ago I had a chance to review the
> substance of the movie Climate Hustle. It was shown in the Whitehouse and
> in a variety of forums in Congress. Since we as engineers are often asked
> to opine on situations that relate to the environment and energy production
> and more importantly we are required to implement solutions that come from
> the policies that are passed based on the current understanding of the day,
> I felt it important to provide this same movie in the area for your
> edification. I asked the manager at Regal to provide the film for a 7:00
> PM showing this coming Monday May 2nd. This film will be shown once at
> hundreds of theaters across the country. I hope you will take the
> opportunity to go and see this documentary on Climate Change. Thanks.
>
>
>
> Jim Smith
>
> Professor, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
>
>
>
> ********
>
>
>
>
> *Climate Hustle* Be sure to see this movie Monday, May 2 – during its
> one-night nationwide engagement
>
> Without presenting it to the US Senate, as required by the Constitution,
> President Obama has signed the Paris climate treaty. He is already using it
> to further obligate the United States to slash its fossil fuel use, carbon
> dioxide emissions and economic growth … control our lives, livelihoods,
> living standards and liberties … and redistribute our wealth. Poor,
> minority and working class families will suffer most.
>
> China, India and other developing economies are under no such obligation,
> unless and until it is in their interest to do so. For them, compliance is
> *voluntary* – and they cannot afford to eliminate the fossil fuels that
> supply 85% of all global energy, generate some 90% of developing nations’
> electricity, and will lift billions of people out of abject poverty. That’s
> why these countries have built over 1,000 coal-fired power plants and are
> planning to build 2,300 more – while unaccountable EPA bureaucrats are
> shutting down US coal-fired generators, and getting ready to block natural
> gas production and use.
>
> *What if the entire foundation for this energy and economic insanity were
> erroneous, groundless, fabricated … a climate con job – **a Climate
> Hustle? *
>
> That is exactly what CFACT’s new movie demonstrates is actually going on.
>
> *Climate Hustle* is the perfect antidote to the destructive, demoralizing
> climate alarmism that dominates political decisions and obsesses the Obama
> White House and EPA. You owe it to yourself to see it.
>
> *It’s coming to a theater near you on Monday, May 2, for a special
> one-night engagement. *
>
> I saw *Climate Hustle* April 14, at its U.S. premiere on Capitol Hill in
> Washington. The film is informative and entertaining, pointed and humorous.
> As meteorologist Anthony Watts
> <https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/04/25/my-review-skeptic-film-climate-hustl…>
> says, it is wickedly effective in its using slapstick humor and the words
> and deeds of climate alarmists to make you laugh at them.
>
> It examines the science on both sides of the issue … presents often
> hilarious planetary Armageddon prophecies of Al Gore, Leonard Nimoy and
> other [image:
> https://gallery.mailchimp.com/8fe89cf100dfd0bf13664d610/images/25e3c393-4e0…
> … and lets 30 scientists and other experts expose the climate scares and
> scams, explain Real World climate science, and delve deeply into the
> politics and media hype that have surrounded this issue since it was first
> concocted several decades ago
>
> Sizzling temperatures. Melting ice caps. Destructive hurricanes,
> tornadoes, floods and droughts. Disappearing polar bears. The end of
> civilization as we know it! The end of Planet Earth!
>
> Emissions from our power plants, cars, factories and farms are causing
> catastrophic climate change!
>
> Or are they? Is there really a “97% scientific consensus” on this? Or is
> “dangerous manmade climate change” merely the greatest overheated
> environmentalist con-job and shell game ever devised to advance the Big
> Green anti-energy agenda?
>
> See this amazing film on May 2, and find out for yourself. To learn where
> it’s showing near you, and to buy tickets, visitwww.ClimateHustle.com
>
> You’ll be glad you did.
>
>
>
> *Climate Hustle* is hosted by award-winning investigative journalist Marc
> Morano. A former communications director for the U.S. Senate Committee on
> Environment and Public Works, Morano is publisher of CFACT’s
> ClimateDepot.com. The film is a production of the Committee For A
> Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) and CDR Communications. See the movie. Bring
> your friends. Make it a party. www.ClimateHustle.com
>
> Paul Driessen
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> "Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his
> right hand and chop off his left." ~ Aldo Leopold
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "WVU Sierra Student Coalition" group.
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--
"Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his
right hand and chop off his left." ~ Aldo Leopold
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________________________________
From: Rudhdi Karnik <rudhdi.karnik(a)sierraclub.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2016 5:20 PM
To: Seth Long
Cc: Bill Price; James Kotcon; Laura Yokochi; Liz Wiles; David W. Sturm; David Muhly; Nachy Kanfer; Bridget Lee
Subject: Re: WV Team call today at 10:30AM
Clip from today's event!
http://www.statejournal.com/story/31831308/firstenergy-customers-ask-psc-to…
[http://wvstate.images.worldnow.com/images/10423601_G.jpg]<http://www.statejournal.com/story/31831308/firstenergy-customers-ask-psc-to…>
FirstEnergy customers ask WV PSC to enforce aggressive energy efficiency targets<http://www.statejournal.com/story/31831308/firstenergy-customers-ask-psc-to…>
www.statejournal.com
FirstEnergy customers are taking a stand to drive the electric utility to shift away from coal-fired power toward cleaner energy.
On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 11:04 AM, Seth Long <seth.long(a)sierraclub.org<mailto:seth.long@sierraclub.org>> wrote:
Here are the edited and unedited letters from the online petition.
145 unedited and about 15 edited. I noticed that there's some extra blank pages at the bottom of the docs, so you may want to delete those to save time and paper when printing.
On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 8:25 AM, Bill Price <bill.price(a)sierraclub.org<mailto:bill.price@sierraclub.org>> wrote:
Hi all,
We will have our regular WV Team call today at 10:30.
Please let me know of any agenda items other than final prep for the PSC event tomorrow. I know we need to discuss that.
Call in number 866-501-6174<tel:866-501-6174>
Access code 33907431892
Bill Price, Senior Organizing Representative
Sierra Club
Environmental Justice Program
Beyond Coal to Clean Energy Campaign
922 Quarrier Street, Room 206
Charleston, WV 25301
Phone 304-389-8822<tel:304-389-8822> (cell)
Email: bill.price(a)sierraclub.org<mailto:bill.price@sierraclub.org>
"If there's no struggle, there's no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet renounce controversy are people who want crops without plowing the ground..." Frederick Douglass 1817-1895
--
Thanks,
Seth
---
Seth Long - Regional Online Organizer
Beyond Coal Campaign, Sierra Club
Work: 202-675-6693 | Cell: 603-852-3622<tel:603-852-3622>
Email: seth.long(a)sierraclub.org<mailto:seth.long@sierraclub.org> | URL: http://www.sierraclub.org<http://www.sierraclub.org/>
Regional Online Organizers' Resource Center<https://sites.google.com/a/sierraclub.org/regional-online-organizing-resour…>
Represented by John Muir Local 100
--
Rudhdi Karnik
Associate Press Secretary, Federal Affairs
Sierra Club, Beyond Coal Campaign
(<mailto:rudhdi.karnik@sierraclub.org>o) 202.495.3055
First Energy says 7 utilities filed IRPs, but theirs is the only one being
picked on!
This looks like an opportunity to expand the news attention, and emphasize
our message..
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20160423/first-energy-says-15-year-plan-d…
Should we plan a call Monday to get our action in order?
JBK
Great story in WV State Journal.
JBK
http://www.statejournal.com/story/31792677/environmental-advocates-sue-wvde…
A coalition of environmental and community groups are taking legal action
to hold West Virginia accountable for cleaning up abandoned coal mine sites.
In two separate lawsuits, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, West
Virginia Rivers Coalition and Sierra Club allege West Virginia is violating
the Clean Water Act by allowing excessive amounts of pollutants to
discharge from former coal mine sites in Barbour, Nicholas and Preston
counties.
When mine operators in West Virginia go out of business before they
complete all of the reclamation required by law, the groups explained, the
state becomes responsible for finishing the cleanup, including managing any
water pollution coming from the site. However, many coal mines in the state
continue to generate harmful water pollution long after the mines are shut
down, they continued.
“It is by now beyond question that coal mines — even reclaimed mines or
mines in the process of reclamation — discharge harmful mining pollutants
into West Virginia streams,” said Liz Wiles, Chair of West Virginia Sierra
Club. “When the State of West Virginia takes responsibility for these toxic
sites, it needs to do everything in its power to prevent them from
threatening our communities and our clean water.”
The lawsuits, filed in two U.S. District Courts for West Virginia’s
Northern and Southern districts April 20, allege seven former mine sites in
the state are discharging excessive pollutants into various creeks and
streams in the state.
The groups say this underscores the need for the DEP to require mine
operators to pledge additional funds to cover the costs of reclamation or
water treatment, in light of the recent, dramatic downturn of the coal
industry that has thrown many mining companies into bankruptcy.
“By burying their heads in the sand these past two decades and ignoring how
the looming crisis of bankrupt coal companies would further deplete the
state's inadequate Special Reclamation Fund, West Virginia lawmakers have
virtually guaranteed that citizens and taxpayers will be the ones
responsible for cleaning up these coal company messes,” said Cindy Rank of
the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.
However, DEP officials have previously told The State Journal
<http://www.statejournal.com/story/31283157/wv-environmentalists-plan-to-sue…>
that the high rate of bankruptcy filings does pose a threat to the state’s
reclamation funds, but they’re not panicking yet.
“We have several companies in bankruptcy right now in West Virginia.
Bankruptcy is a very complicated situation, but the fact that the company
has filed for bankruptcy does not mean they’re forfeiting bonds,”
said Harold Ward, acting mining director for the DEP's Division of Land
Restoration. “We have bankruptcies more frequently than we would like to
see, but we generally see a restructuring plan worked out.”
Have you seen Bill McKIbben's article "Global Warming's Terrifying New
Chemistry" in *The Nation*?
http://www.thenation.com/article/global-warming-terrifying-new-chemistry/
The layperson's take-away:
We all, including EPA, have been badly under-reporting methane emission.
New data suggests that rather than reducing greenhouse gas effects in
recent years, they may have actually increased.
Conclusion: every bit of fosil fuels - including coal, oil, and now most
notably natural gas - must stay in the ground.
Conclusion: referring to gas as a "bridge fuel" is absurd at best,
subversive at worst.
I would love to see how we can reboot some of our energy work in West
Virginia to reflect this "terrifying new chemistry."
--
Jim Sconyers
jimscon(a)gmail.com
304.698.9628
Remember, Mother Nature bats last.
"As much a jobs bill as clean energy legislation, Maryland's new expanded
RPS not only targets solar and wind energy but also seeks to bolster
minority- and women-owned energy businesses. ...
Supporters of Maryland's higher RPS say the move ensures 1,300 MW of new
clean energy will be generated, and 1,000 solar jobs and 4,600 wind
positions created. Maryland's solar industry currently employs 4,300."
I think we should start now and begin pushing something similar for WV. We
should emphasize the need to transition coal-field economies. And we
should make it clear that any politician whose only campaign pitch is to
rail about "Obama's War on Coal" is simply not helpful to WV.
Full story at:
http://www.utilitydive.com/news/maryland-senate-passes-25-rps-in-clean-ener…
Thanks to Sally Wilts for posting this first.
Jim Kotcon
"Four big companies have joined the legal battle in favor of the Obama
administration's signature climate change regulations that would curb
emissions from coal-fired power plants.
"Software maker Adobe, candy company Mars, furniture giant IKEA, and
insurance behemoth Blue Cross Blue Shield filed an amicus brief in the U.S.
Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., in support of the Clean Power Plan,
which aims to reduce climate change-causing pollution."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/companies-climate-regulations_us_56fee2f
ee4b083f5c607c33d?utm_hp_ref=business