Fired up: TXU's coal plan puts Texans' health at risk
by Tom "Smitty" Smith, April 2006
The first rule of holes is to quit digging.
TXU's plan to build two new coal plants and repower three others is breathtakingly risky and could harm Texas' health, economy and climate.
More coal means more smog, more toxic mercury pollution and more global warming. Local officials say air pollution must be reduced by 166 tons per day. They only know how to get a third of the reductions. New studies show that reducing power plant emissions may be the fastest way to reduce pollution.
The good news is that citizens recently had the opportunity to speak at hearinga regarding rules to reduce power plant pollution from existing plants. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality says that a 70 percent cut in pollution from existing power plants could make our air safer to breathe, but its weak proposed rules would cut power plant smog pollution by only 9 percent by 2010.
TXU's proposed coal plants would worsen the problem, despite its claim that we need these plants for economic development.
Poor air quality costs us. Respiratory care totaled $825 million in one recent year at just one local hospital. Asthma is now the No. 1 reason kids land in the emergency room. We've lost Toyota and Boeing plants to San Antonio and Chicago because of poor air quality in North Texas.
Power plant mercury pollution puts our babies at risk for permanent brain damage. We need 90 percent mercury reductions from all sources in order to protect health. TCEQ's weak mercury proposals would allow mercury to increase over the next four years. Eleven Texas fishing lakes and the Gulf of Mexico now have mercury fish consumption warnings. A recent study by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio found a 17 percent increase in autism for every 1,000 pounds of mercury pollution.
TXU's proposed Oak Grove coal plant – 125 miles from Dallas – would become the new "worst mercury-emitting power plant in the nation." Is that the best TXU can do?
This winter was one of the warmest on record. The Panhandle has suffered drought-fueled wildfires, glaciers are melting, polar bears are falling through the ice, and our overheated oceans are causing stronger hurricanes. By building more coal plants, TXU would only add fuel to the fire.
Global warming emissions from power plants are likely to be regulated soon. Some states and many utilities include the cost of carbon offsets in their planning. Estimates range from $6 to $64 per ton. Consumers could end up paying hundreds of dollars per year for TXU's current and proposed coal plants. Less coal may be less expensive in the long run and allow more economic growth. TXU shouldn't allow North Texas to stagnate in a cloud of hot air.
TXU could provide power for the future without breathtaking risks. Saving energy is cheaper than building polluting new power plants. Instead of spending billions on coal, why not invest in efficiency and renewable wind, solar and geothermal energy that are carbon free? If TXU must use coal, it should at least use gasification (IGCC) technology, the so-called "clean coal," to capture mercury, carbon and smog-forming pollutants.
Citizens need to speak our or mail comments. It is critical that TCEQ chair Kathleen Harnett White hear from citizens tired of Texas' most powerful polluters harming our health and environment.
Tom "Smitty" Smith is director of Public Citizen's Texas office.
