Coal opponents rally for green jobs, seek momentum in fight against new power plants

As electricity demand drops in Michigan and state and federal programs promise investment and “green jobs” in renewable power, clean energy advocates are rallying on the Capitol steps in Lansing to keep up pressure against new coal development.

“We want to make sure that it is clear that there is a trade off between choosing clean energy and the jobs that come with it or choosing coal,” Anne Woiwode of the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club said in an interview. “If we choose coal, we will be sending money out of state to buy coal for generations.”

In February, with five new coal projects seeking permits from the state, Gov. Jennifer Granholm slowed the coal rush by ordering the Department of Environmental Quality and the Michigan Public Service Commission to evaluate whether the proposed coal plants are the most feasible and prudent way to meet the states power needs.

Some called this move a “moratorium on coal“, and within months the developers of two proposed plants — the one at Northern Michigan University in Marquette and the LS Power plant in Midland — withdrew their permit applications. Two other projects — Wolverine Power’s proposed 600 megawatt plant in Rogers City and Consumers Energy’s 930 megawatt plant in Essexville — have submitted analysis reports as to why they are prudent and feasible. The public comment periods on these submissions are nearing their ends and thousands of pages of comments have been submitted.

At today’s rally, energy activists will urge the public to tell the governor and state agencies to block new coal projects.

“The last thing we need is for another of our major corporations to go into a death spiral,” said Peter Sinclair of Midland who produces Climate Denial Crock of the Week.

Yet this could happen, he said in an interview, because rising construction costs and expected new penalties for carbon emissions make coal power plants expensive, risky investments. “In this climate energy efficiency is the most stable intelligent investment.”

“I think that the fact that Consumers has delayed the project for two years is an indication that they are thinking it over,” Sinclair said, “They would be blind if they were not aware that there are overwhelming, significant changes taking place in the coal industry and whether or not we are even going to have a coal industry in 20 years.”

Top Democrats remain divided on the wisdom of pursuing coal. In an interview with The Saginaw News this week, Michigan House Speaker Andy Dillon, slammed the Department of Environmental Quality for taking time to consider permits for new coal plants. Dillon told The News that that DEQ needs to know that it cannot take “months and months” to approve permits and that DEQ’s deliberation on air permits gives a “perception that we’re not a friendly place to business.”