Montana revokes permit for new coal-fired power plant
4:38 PM, August 7, 2009


Environmentalist notched up another victory in their war against coal-fired power plants this week, as Montana state officials revoked a permit for a proposed 250-megawatt coal-fired power plant that would have been built near the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

Among the next targeted coal plants:Sunflower in Kansas, Desert Rock in New Mexico, and the Dry Fork plant in Wyoming.

"We can no longer continue to ignore global warming," said Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center. "With the revocation of this permit, it appears that (the developer) and Montana have finally recognized that coal-burning has no future in this state."

Instead of constructing the coal plant, the developer, Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative, plans to build a 120-megawatt natural gas-fired plant. Recent discoveries of natural gas have also made natural gas, a cleaner fuel, more economically competitive with coal.

Coal plants spew millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air and are a leading cause of global warming. Toxic chemicals and particulate matter from coal plants can also lead to a range of health problems, including asthma.

Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club have launched campaigns against coal and are calling on President Obama and Congress to switch the United States away from coal to renewable, clean energy, instead of increasing U.S. dependence on coal.

The groups involved in the lawsuit against the developer included the Montana Environmental Information Center, Citizens for Clean Energy, the National Parks Conservation Association and the Sierra Club. "We hope that others will also see the writing on the wall and make the switch to clean energy," said Jenny Harbine, an attorney with Earthjustice in Bozeman, Mont.


-- Amy Littlefield
Buck