Take Action For Our Friends Up North--Deadline Aug. 20
Please help the people of Monongalia County stop the proposed Longview power plant. If built, it would be the eighth coal-fired power plant within 28 miles of Morgantown! West Virginia already exports more power than it uses, so it's not as though we need the power here. Our state has the highest rate of premature death from power plants in the whole country--because coal is by far the dirtiest way to make electricity. Citizens for Alternatives to Longview Power is asking YOU to write a letter to the Public Service Commission. Even if you just scribble a few lines, it will help. There's a form letter on CALP's website (click their name above). The same form  letter is also pasted at the bottom of this e-mail. 

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News Nuggets

What's up with Judge Goodwin's ruling on valley fills?--Judge's mining order ignored? Permit suspension was aimed at mine sites not yet started

 

Yesterday's New York Times front page article on mountaintop removal, coal dust rules and the Bush administration 's way-too-cozy relationship with the coal industry--Friends in the White House Come to Coal's Aid

 

From:  We have the power to protect the climate   

"Worldwide, nearly 40 per cent of the world's electricity comes from burning coal. It's the dirtiest fuel in terms of CO2 pollution:  Coal-fired power stations currently release a disproportionate 72 per cent of all power-related CO2 emissions, and around a fifth of total  CO2 emissions from all human activities. And current projections are that coal use in the power sector will grow by more than 60 per cent
by 2020, releasing billions more tons of CO2 into our atmosphere each year.

 

"The consequences of this will go way beyond heat-related deaths and fires each summer. The World Meteorological Organization last year
warned that the frequency of extreme weather events - heat waves, droughts, hurricanes, floods, and the like - might be on the increase
due to climate change. This year, Swiss Re, the world's second largest reinsurer, said that global warming is aggravating the economic costs of natural disasters, which threaten to double to $150 billion a year in 10 years... 

 

"Scientists around the world agree that the only solution is to keep the maximum global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius.
And that the only practical way this can be achieved is to immediately make drastic cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, and CO2 in
particular.

 

"Ways to do this already exist. For the electricity sector, the answer lies in clean, renewable energy sources such as biomass, wind, solar,
and geothermal power, together with improved energy efficiency. Both approaches have been proven to work, and only lack political will to
become more widely used."

 

From: Choose Australia's future: clean or coal, independent or dependent

"Renewable energy is practical peace...Clean energy is job creating, sustainable, economic, practical and peaceful. It's also among the world's fastest growing industries, with wind power growing at a phenomenal 29.7 per cent per annum, solar by 21.6 per cent per annum and $20 billion of new investment in renewable energy in 2002-03. Australia should move from coal-dependent to independent, with a clean energy future.

 

Early each morning, OVEC posts links to environmental and other news daily at www.ohvec.org/ovec_news.html and www.ohvec.org/news_gen.html. Please check it out!

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Longview Sample Letter
Public Service Commission of West Virginia
c/o Ms. Sandra Squire, Executive Secretary
PO Box 812
Charleston, WV 25323

Subject:   Case Number 03-1860-E-CS-CN Longview Power

Dear Commissioners:


I am writing this letter to voice my opposition to the proposed Longview Power Plant.  The power plant is not in the best interest of the citizens of Monongalia County and the surrounding area for many reasons.  I am opposed to Longview because:

• Seven other coal-fired power plants are already located within a 28-mile radius of Morgantown.  Longview will add to their pollution.  These along with the two other power plants in the County generate much more electricity than this area uses.

• Longview will emit pollutants such as mercury and lead that have been proven harmful to humans, especially pregnant women, children, and the elderly.

• The pollution emitted by Longview will harm the environment, including such treasured wilderness areas as Dolly Sods, Otter Creek, and the Shenandoah National Forest, by producing pollution that causes acid rain.

• The power plant with its 550 ft. smoke stack, which is to be located on a ridge above the Fort Martin power plant, will harm the economic growth of the area by reducing property values and damaging the tourism industry because of its unsightliness and increased traffic and noise from coal trucks.

• The noise produced by Longview will add to the already elevated noise levels in the Fort Martin Community and surrounding communities.

• The new University High School is to be located right n a ridge across the river from the Longview site.

• Monongalia County was designated as being in nonattainment for fine particulate mater by the USEPA.  Longview will add 110 pounds per hour of particulate matter to the air we breathe.

As the Public Service Commission, an organization that was created to protect and serve the public, I urge you to oppose Longview because it is not in the best interest of Monongalia County’s citizens.

 

Sincerely,

 

Your Name and Address