Florida Power Company to Build Huge Coal Plant in the Everglades

[babylonsister]

http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/03/26/florida-power-company-to-build-huge-coal-plant-in-the-everglades/

Florida Power Company to Build Huge Coal Plant in the Everglades
Posted by Trish | Mar. 26, 2007, 10:44 am

It’s not just because I finally watched “An Inconvenient Truth” this weekend that I find the news that Florida Power & Light is planning to build one of the country’s largest coal-fired generating plants in the Everglades so infuriating.

The plant would emit 16 million tons of climate- changing carbon dioxide, making it the largest single source of global warming pollution in the state.

It’s also the unmitigated gall of a company that sucks every last dime of profit from its customers while feeding at the public trough. Floridians will be a long time forgetting how FPL used hurricane damage as an excuse to raise rates and then asked the state legislature for money to fix its equipment and lines. And got both.

But this latest news takes the cake.

Florida Power & Light’s rush to build one of the largest coal plants in the nation sets back the state’s efforts toward a clean energy future and dramatically increases global warming pollution…

The proposed coal plant would be a 5,000-acre industrial facility constructed in the heart of the Everglades, in the city of Moore Haven in Glades County, and would emit harmful pollutants 24 hours a day for more than 50 years.

more...

[kestrel91316]

1. This is from The Onion, right?

[babylonsister]

3. Sadly, no. Here's another article:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-26forum56mar26,0,5755792.story?coll=sfla-news-opinion

FPL going off course with coal

By Susan Glickman and Stephen Smith
Posted March 26 2007

A new age is dawning for clean energy solutions to meet Florida's future electricity demand. Energy efficiency policies and new renewable energy can offset one-third of the electricity demand growth in Florida over the next 15 years, according to a recent report by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

Right now, there are a host of clean energy initiatives underway in Florida. The Florida Energy Commission is building a framework for statewide greenhouse gas reductions, the Florida Department of Agriculture is committed to transforming Florida to the biofuel capital of the nation, and our legislators in Tallahassee are considering bills that would remove barriers to energy efficiency and public access to renewable energy.

A major benefit of a clean energy future includes keeping consumers' energy dollars right here at home, creating jobs and securing Florida's energy independence.

Unfortunately, Florida Power & Light's rush to build one of the largest coal plants in the nation sets back the state's efforts toward a clean energy future and dramatically increases global warming pollution. To its credit, FPL is the largest owner of clean wind power generation in the country. Yet in Florida, they've strayed off course with coal. And while FPL is a leader in wind development in other parts of the country, where they are using clean technology to break into new markets, in Florida FPL has chosen dirty coal for its captive customers.

more...

[kestrel91316]

4. That plant won't hve 50 years in which to operate. It will be underwater

before then.

Cool. It might make a nice fake reef.

[Nihil]

5. Now THAT would make a superb poster ...

... a new coal-fired powerstation trashed by hurricanes, flooded by rising
sea-levels and with a big "TOLD YOU SO" banner at the bottom ...

:mad:

[NNadir]

2. It's perfectly OK.

They own the Altamont wind farm - the oldest and largest wind farm in the United States.

It follows that they would never seek to build a coal plant, since they are well acquainted with the wonders of wind power.