Will Oregon Close the State’s Only Coal-Fired Power Plant?
By Joshua Frank- AlterNet- October 28, 2009.
While outsiders may think of Oregon as a green utopia, it’s undoubtedly not that groovy when it comes to the issue of coal.
Polar ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising and the number of fatal hurricanes may be increasing.
The culprit? That big, malevolent unknown we call global warming. It’s out there, the scientists warn, somewhere, and it is destroying our little blue planet with every last bit of CO2 we discharge into the atmosphere.
So we purchase energy-efficient appliances, turn off our lights when we exit the room, drive our vehicles less frequently and shop at our local farmers markets. Even so, the struggle to put the breaks on climate change seems like a fruitless venture.
Not so say activists in Oregon who are attempting to chain and lock the doors of the state’s sole coal-fired power plant. Located along the scenic Columbia River Gorge in eastern Oregon, the Boardman Power Plant is owned and operated by Portland General Electric and supplies enough power to support the energy consumption of approximately 280,000 homes.
The Boardman coal-fired plant is the single largest and most polluting site in Oregon, and citizens here have affixed their bull’s-eye smack dab on its soaring smoke stacks.
While outsiders may think of Oregon as a green utopia, with its environmentally friendly urban populace and New Age ambiance, it’s undoubtedly not that groovy when it comes to the issue of coal.
Over 40 percent of the state’s energy comes from the burning of this precious black rock, half of which is pumped out of the Boardman Power Plant each year. No coal-mining operations exist in the state, so all of the coal set ablaze in Boardman is dug up and transported from places like the majestic Powder River Basin, which straddles the high-plains border of northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana.
In recent years, studies have shown that the Boardman plant contributes to regional haze and visibility impairment in the Columbia River Gorge, a national scenic area, as well as 14 national parks and wilderness areas in Washington and Oregon.
The U.S. Forest Service has even demonstrated that Boardman contributes to acid fog and rain in the Columbia Gorge.
Leading the legal charge to end the practice of coal burning in Oregon are the Sierra Club, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Columbia Riverkeeper and two other environmental groups that recently sued PGE for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act. Read Entire Article