Dallas, Houston Mayors Join Against 17 Proposed New, Expanded Coal Plants

[hatrack]

In a move pitting Texas cities against utility companies, Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and Houston Mayor Bill White have teamed up to urge mayors of other big cities to fight dirty technology proposed for 17 new coal-fired power plants in the state. The plants are being fast-tracked through the state's pollution review process with the special blessing of Gov. Rick Perry. That process can typically take more than a year, but TXU Corp. aims to have 11 of its new coal-fired generating units operating within four years.

Miller sent a memo to 45-50 mayors of large Texas cities at the end of last week asking for $10,000 from each city to help hire a law firm to intervene before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Houston's White has agreed to spearhead the effort, the letter states. It also says Houston and Dallas will handle organizational work and hiring of consultants.

Across Texas, seven power companies have applied to the TCEQ to build an unprecedented 17 new coal-fired power plants in Texas over the next few years. TXU is proposing 11 new generating units, all at existing power plant sites. Many of the proposed power plants are near North Texas, including several around Waco in Central Texas and in Fannin County, northeast of Dallas. The largest is a 1,720 megawatt coal-fired power plant proposed by Dallas-based TXU Corp. in Robertson County, about 120 miles southeast of Dallas.

Emissions from those plants could further foul North Texas air, but whether they would add significant amounts of pollutants here is under debate. TXU has argued that the plants won't have a significant impact on North Texas air quality.

EDIT

http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2006/07/10/daily15.html

Heavens, no! Those 17 new coal-fired plants won't have ANY effect on air quality! :eyes:

EDIT

[redqueen]

1. I wish Laura Miller was running again.

*sigh*

[acmejack]

2. I wonder who they are thinking about retaining?

The loss of them won't make TXU screw with our rates. Alternative power is starting to look like a wise investment. Is a local utility required to buy back excess capacity from a wind turbine or is it entirely optional?

[phantom power]

3. And (as usual) none of them are talking about CO2 as a pollutant.

[megatherium]

4. We will need more electricity for the AC for global warming. nt