NEWS

Obama calls for no new coal-fired power plants

10/12/2007

Obama calls for no new coal-fired power plantsAnjeanette Damon (ADAMON@RGJ.COM)
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
October 9, 2007
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama called Monday for a ban on the construction of traditional coal-fired power plants—three of which are planned in Nevada—as part of an energy proposal that would force polluters to pay for the greenhouse gasses they emit.
The energy platform Obama debuted Monday is focused on a "cap-and-trade" system for carbon emissions that he said would make the cost prohibitive for power companies to build traditional coal-fired power plants such as those under way in rural Nevada.
But, in a shift from comments he made in Nevada in August, Obama said Monday he would seek other measures to keep such plants from being built, including a ban.
"I would rely on a carbon cap and whatever tools are necessary to stop new dirty coal plants from being built in America," he said. "I would include a ban on new traditional coal facilities as one option. I actually think getting this carbon cap passed would do the job."
In August, Obama shied away from calling for a ban, saying a "cap-and-trade" system that gradually would increase national emission limits and force companies to pay for the pollution they produce is more important.
Obama, who represents coal-rich Illinois, spoke in Elko shortly after U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would halt the proposed construction of coal-fired plants in Nevada.
"The difficulties for all the Democratic presidential candidates is Sen. Reid has drawn a line in the sand, and now, they have got to decide which side of the line they are on," said Charles Benjamin, Nevada director of Western Resource Advocates, which is fighting the plants.
Benjamin said a cap-and-trade system would come too late to prevent the plants scheduled in Nevada from being built.
"That is why the environmental community is saying we need a moratorium on the permitting of these coal plants," he said.
Coal plant in the works
Sierra Pacific Resources, parent company of Sierra Pacific Power Co. and Nevada Power, has plans to build a
$3.8-billion coal-fired power plant near Ely. Spokeswoman Faye Andersen declined to
comment on Obama’s plan.
Company executives have said the coal plant is necessary because of Nevada’s growing electricity demands, which renewable energy sources alone cannot meet.
Two other out-of-state companies also are pursuing plans to build similar plants.
Rather than end the country’s reliance on coal to generate electricity, Obama’s plan would make a substantial investment in bringing clean-coal technology to market more quickly.
Obama’s energy plan also calls for reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, improving energy efficiency, reducing oil consumption by 35 percent by 2030 and spearheading an international global warming partnership.
Other Democratic presidential candidates have released similar energy policies. Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson both have policies focused on reducing carbon emissions with a cap-and-trade system.
Both have opposed the construction of coal-fired power plants that do not use clean coal technology, which still is under development.
U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton has not released a detailed energy policy but has supported similar cap-and-trade systems.