A step in the wrong direction By Kathy Helms WINDOW ROCK A lawsuit filed Tuesday by Desert Rock Energy
Co. LLC and Diné Power Authority against U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency is unfortunate and premature, according
to New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry. Desert Rock Energy Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sithe Global
Power LLC of Houston, and DPA challenged EPA and Administrator Stephen
L. Johnson for failure to make a timely decision on an air permit
application for the proposed 1,500 megawatt, coal-fired Desert Rock
Energy Project, to be located near Burnham. New Mexicos position on this plant is clear; the Desert
Rock plant as currently proposed is a step in the wrong direction,
Curry said. We need to be moving forward, toward new carbon
capture-ready technologies for power generation, not back to the
old dirty coal plants of the past. Air quality Curry said that as planned, the new facility will adversely impact
air quality, exacerbate existing environment problems, and negatively
impact scarce surface and ground water resources. Per capita, New
Mexico already emits twice the national average of greenhouse gas
emissions, according to NMED. Also, the technology as proposed by Sithe refuses to consider
real technological advances. It appears Sithes investment
in plant planning is outdated without taking into account the needs
of climate change policy, he said. The estimated 12 million tons of carbon dioxide emitted each year
from the Desert Rock plant would increase New Mexico greenhouse
gas emissions by about 15 percent, making Gov. Bill Richardsons
aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals difficult if not
impossible to meet, according to Curry. DPA General Manager Steven Begay, during a report Wednesday to
the Navajo Nation Economic Development Committee, said, Everybody
is waiting on the air permit. That will be the green light for the
project to move forward. One is the Endangered Species Act; another is global warming, according
to Begay. He said a Supreme Court decision, Massachusetts v. EPA,
raised concerns about global warming from mobile sources,
which EPA cited as a cause of concern in its comments on the Desert
Rock Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Another stumbling block is legislation introduced March 11 by Rep.
Edward J. Markey, chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence
and Global Warming, and Rep. Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the Oversight
and Government Reform Committee. The legislation, known as the Moratorium on Uncontrolled
Power Plants Act of 2008, addresses the largest new source
of global warming pollution new coal-fired power plants that
are being built without any controls on their global warming emissions,
according to the chairmen. The bill places a moratorium on either EPA or states issuing permits
to new coal-fired power plants without state-of-the-art control
technology to capture and permanently sequester the plants
carbon dioxide emissions. The moratorium extends until a comprehensive
federal regulatory program for global warming pollution is in place. The bill also bars a new coal-fired power plant without state-of-the-art
control technology from receiving any free or reduced-cost emissions
allowances under a future federal program to address global warming. Many communities are still paying for failed nuclear power plant
investments in the 1980s, the chairmen said. This bill puts
investors and power companies on notice that if they invest in new
sources of global warming pollution now, taxpayers wont pay
for the costs of cleaning up those sources later. Thats whats really holding up the permit, as
we understand, Begay said. According to Waxman, comprehensive economy-wide regulation to address
global warming is coming soon. More than 100 new plants have been
proposed, and even if just a portion of these are built, they will
emit over a hundred million tons of carbon dioxide a year, the chairmen
said. Emissions Desert Rock will have state-of-the-art technology, Begay said,
as well as a space for any retrofittable carbon-capture system.
Carbon capture technology is there its theory
but there is no real practice. Theyre being experimented
on real small scales and you cant just go from there to large
scale, so theres that design thats not there that were
willing to look at. Following the design would be the bulk of the money for constructing
a unit. For the size of the plant that Desert Rock is promoting
to develop, it will require about $450 million per unit, he
said. There are two 750 megawatt units proposed. Begay said there also would be a reduction in power off-take and
a corresponding economic impact because it would require some of
the power the plant would produce to run the carbon-capture system. But given that its all experimental theres no
proven technology that can be applied at the size Desert Rock will
be were receptive to it but weve got to keep
moving. There is a slot in the emission system where, if its
there, well put it in, he said. Secretary Curry said that at the request of the Navajo Nation,
New Mexico Environment Department staff has been meeting with tribal
environmental officials to discuss the project and the potential
for carbon emission reductions. To sue now undercuts these
ongoing discussions, he said. |
Wednesday Conquering a cash crisis
A step
in the wrong direction Best Spanish spellers in Grants |
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