Cliffside Plant
{{#Badges:CoalSwarm}} Although Duke Energy chairman Jim Rogers is an active proponent of legislation to address global warming, Duke continues to pursue development of new coal power plants.[1] Duke Energy originally proposed two new 800 MW units at its Cliffside plant in North Carolina. In February 2007, the North Carolina Utilities Commission approved one unit and rejected the other [2]; in June 2007, the commission denied a request for reconsideration of this decision.
Contents
Citizens Hearings
In response to the Department of Air Quality holding just one hearing, in the remote location of Forest City, Cliffside held citizens’ hearings in Asheville, Raleigh, and Charlotte.
Criticism by National Park Service and EPA
In Dec. 2007, representatives of the National Park Service and the U.S. EPA warned that state environmental regulators were approving the project too quickly and with too little oversight.[3]
EPA ruling on carbon dioxide emissions
In a landmark decision on November 13, 2008, the US EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) ruled that the EPA has no valid reason for failing to limit carbon dioxide emissions from new coal-fired power plants.[4] The lawsuit was brought by The Sierra Club in October 2007 to challenge the permitting of the Bonanza Power Plant addition, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. In its decision, the EAB sided with the Sierra Club, declaring that because the Supreme Court ruling defined carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, new coal-fired power plants must implement "Best Available Control Technology" (BACT) for CO2. Environmentalists and lawyers representing industry groups claim the ruling will have a national effect and may stop the permitting of numerous coal plants.[5]
In North Carolina, environmentalists quickly jumped on the ruling, hoping it will help in the long-running legal fight to stop the Cliffside plant. John Runkle, an attorney for one of the groups opposing the plant, commented, "The weight against building new coal plants is growing. This certainly will help us." Attorneys filed a new motion on November 14. Administrative Law Judge Randall May heard testimony in the case on November 17.[6]
Direct Action Protests
Nov. 15, 2007: Student blockade of Duke Energy headquarters
On November 15, 2007, two Warren Wilson College students dressed as polar bears chained themselves to the door of Duke Energy's headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, in protest of the Cliffside Plant. Several dozen people held a rally in support of their blockade, dressing as Santa Claus and elves and presenting a stocking full of coal to the company. The two students were arrested on charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct.[7][8][9]
April 1, 2008: Rising Tide/Earth First! occupation of Cliffside construction site
On April 1, 2008, as part of the Fossil Fools International Day of Action, a group of North Carolina activists with Rising Tide and Earth First! locked themselves to bulldozers to prevent the construction of the Cliffside coal-fired power plant proposed by Duke in western North Carolina. Others roped off the site with "Global Warming Crime Scene" tape, and held banners protesting the construction of the plant. Police used pain compliance holds and tasers to force the activists to unlock themselves from the construction equipment. Eight people were arrested.[10][11]
Air permit revoked over mercury emissions
In December 2008, a ruling by a federal judge in Asheville, N.C. revoked the Cliffside plant's air quality permit because it does not meet Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT) regulations for mercury. An earlier ruling by a D.C. circuit court found that the EPA’s 2005 mercury rule was illegal because it evaded mandatory cuts in toxic mercury pollution. Duke Energy has 70 days to update the plant's technology to comply with the MACT. If Duke misses the deadline, the court has the ability to halt plant construction.[12]
Project Details
Sponsor: Duke Energy
Location: Cliffside, NC
Type: Conventional Pulverized
Capacity: 1600 MW (2 units)
Projected in service: 2011
Status: One unit rejected; one in permitting
Financing
Citizen Groups
- Appalachian Voices, outreach [at] appvoices.org
- Asheville Rising Tide, risingtide [at] mountainrebel.net
- North Carolina Sierra Club, Molly Diggins, molly.diggins [at] sierraclub-nc.org
- Southern Environmental Law Center, Gudrun Thompson, webmaster [at] selcva.org
- North Carolina Waste Awareness & Reduction Network (NC WARN, ncwarn [at] ncwarn.org
Resources
References
- ↑ "Cliffside, Coal and Global Warming", North Carolina Sierra Club, undated, accessed January 2008.
- ↑ Duke Energy's Cliffside Power Plant, NC Warn, undated, accessed January 2008.
- ↑ "Smokies Power Plant Decried", The News & Observer, December 15, 2007.
- ↑ "Ruling: Coal Plants Must Limit C02," Sierra Club, November 13, 2008.
- ↑ "A Freeze on New U.S. Coal Plants?", Brian Walsh, Time, November 13, 2008.
- ↑ Mitch Weiss,"Environmentalists try to stop NC coal-fired plant," Forbes, November 18, 2008.
- ↑ Students Chain Selves to Duke, Raleigh News & Observer, November 16, 2007.
- ↑ Direct Action at Duke Energy Over Proposed Coal Expansion, It's Getting Hot In Here blog, November 15, 2007.
- ↑ “Duke Energy Headquarters Blockaded in Opposition to New Coal Plant", Infoshop News, November 17, 2007.
- ↑ "Eight Climate Protesters Arrested at U.S. Coal Plant", Reuters, April 1, 2008.
- ↑ "Eight Arrested as North Carolina Residents Shut Down Construction at Cliffside Coal Plant", Fossil Fools Day blog, April 1, 2008.
- ↑ "Coal plant setback in NC!", It's Getting Hot in Here, December 3, 2008.
Related SourceWatch Articles
External links
- "Tracking New Coal-Fired Power Plants", National Energy Technology Lab, May 1, 2007, page 17. (Pdf)
- "Stopping the Coal Rush", Sierra Club, accessed December 2007. (This is a Sierra Club list of new coal plant proposals.)
- Duke Energy, corporate website
