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THE WITNESS
A coal ash impoundment at TVA Kingston Fossil Fuel Power Plant in Tennessee failed in 2008, spilling five times the volume of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. It was the worst in US history. The next year, the EPA, overseeing the clean-up operations, shipped 4 million tons of toxic coal ash by rail to an Alabama landfill in a region called the Black Belt. The Black Belt, birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, has “the richest soil and the poorest people.” Continue reading
The landscape from Plaquemines Parish, south of New Orleans, through to Biloxi and North into Selma is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in my life. Continue reading
Kumi Naidoo and Greenpeace boat at Riverbend coal plant
Today, Duke Energy, the biggest electric utility in the country, announced that it is shutting down two coal-fired power plants near Charlotte, North Carolina — the Buck and Riverbend plants.
The closures are great news, both for communities in North Carolina who want healthy air and water, and for everyone around the world, since burning coal is the leading U.S. cause of global warming.
Greenpeace ship Esperanza on an Arctic expedition to study unexplored ocean habitats threatened by offshore oil drilling.
No matter how you choose to break bread and give thanks this Thursday, here in the Greenpeace office we’re thankful for one thing: YOU. Without your continued support, we wouldn’t be celebrating these critical victories for our environment, our health and our future generations.
So we’re raising our glass to you this week!
We can continue to fight the good fight while celebrating amazing victories along the way. Enjoy this list of what we can all be thankful for this holiday season.
Cheers! Continue reading
This post originally appeared in Coal Ash Chronicles.
Dear readers,
Here’s something for you to keep in mind as you read the news: There’s always more to the story.
Since I’m collecting coal ash stories, I’ll summarize a couple of my own regarding Charlotte, North Carolina’s coal ash issue to give you a peek behind the scenes. Continue reading
Read the original post and follow the coal export action! Follow #nocoalexports and #stopcoalexports if you’re a Tweeter
It is now 8 days since I departed from Portland, OR on the Coal Export Roadshow. Since my last blog update from Spokane we traveled east into Idaho and visited the idyllic town of Sandpoint, nestled on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille. I have rarely seen a more beautiful place or had a more pleasant experience than that cool, summer day spent on the lake and by its shore. The local Waterkeeper chapter took us out on their boat and I got a great first-hand experience of all that region’s beauty. Continue reading
Greenpeace congratulates the hard work of the Little Blue Regional Action Group and their success in demanding the closure of the nation’s largest coal ash impoundment in Pennsylvania. This is amazing news for the fight to leave coal behind and progress towards renewable energy. Guest blog from Little Blue Regional Action Group below gives more details on this historical victory.
Little Blue Regional Action Group (LBRAG) and their legal counsel, Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and Public Justice are claiming victory at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) announcement of a major court filing made late July 27 by) that will result in the closure of Little Blue Run, the nation’s largest coal ash impoundment. Continue reading
Greenpeace asks Duke Energy in North Carolina to quit coal
There is nothing better than confronting corporate polluters.
As my friend Cassady just reported on, we’ve been rolling throughout the state exposing one of the nation’s biggest polluters — Duke Energy – and promoting our report about how renewable electricity can save ratepayers 108 billion dollars at the same time.
And, perhaps most importantly, the company can stop burning Appalachian mountains to poison people here in North Carolina.
Though Duke has made clear their commitment to using Appalachian coal, the campaign to save those beautiful mountains is picking up speed in a very real way.
Over the past week, people from around the country put their bodies, their freedom and their morality on the line to stop mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia.
From what I heard, things were pretty rough.
And 19 of them are still in jail facing a 25,000 bail (with some severe restrictions). Though just released, one person (Dustin) was denied much needed medical attention.
That’s unconscionable. It cannot stand.
I can think of three ways you can help in the fight right now.
First, write letters to the folks who are still in jail. I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.
Second, though we’re not in with them in Appalachia (at least I’m not), we can donate to their legal defense. Give to the RAMPS fund – they took action to save the mountains and you can too.
Sign the petition — 25,000 for peaceful protestors is perverse. Be heard.
Get involved — Come to APIEL, join the mobilization, create a local group and view Coal Country or On Coal River.
Be an activist – be a leader – organize your community – take action – win.
There are many contradictions in America’s Energy Policy. One that’s come down the pipe recently is just how little we as a society rely upon aggregated costs when determining how expensive coal is.
You’ve heard the talking points: “Coal is cheap and we’ve sure got a lot of it;” “Coal is energy security;” “Coal work provides good quality jobs for lots of folks.”
Well, not exactly.
There is a tremendous human, environmental and governmental cost to coal that is not reflected in its market price. Instead, these costs are borne by society.
Coal is only cheap if you externalize costs. For example, some externalized costs include: air quality costs (like increased rates of asthma, air opacity, poor air quality, coal fires, etc.), the costs of unsafe mining conditions (deforestation, soil erosion, black lung, and the human cost of tragedies like what we recently saw in West Virginia, and the environmental costs of disposal (leaching coal ash ponds, leaking waste destroying fish stocks and agriculture, acid mine drainage).
This is a short list in what is a very large problem. The true cost of coal is in fact very, very high.
Importantly, the debate has heated up recently on one very important aspect of the coal chain of custody: coal ash disposal.
On June 21st, the EPA gave us, the people, 90 days to comment on a federal rule for coal ash disposal. For those that don’t know, coal ash is the residue captured from the chimneys of coal-fired power plants. It contains dangerous pollutants like arsenic, mercury, lead, and a host of other heavy substances and heavy metals. In short, it’s filthy and its never been regulated.
Coal ash impoundments are routinely placed close to schools, residences, and some of the most pristine and beautiful spots in this nation. We have to tell the EPA to act responsibly for both human and environmental health and safety.
To that end, the EPA has given us two choices for its federal rule. One proposal is good and the other is very bad. The first proposal would classify coal ash as a hazardous waste, which it is. The other would classify coal ash as non-hazardous. To classify coal ash as non-hazardous would run contrary to the EPA’s own findings, playing right into the hands of polluting industry.
We need to tell the EPA that we support regulating coal ash as a “special waste” under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Coal Ash is hazardous waste; it destroys communities, destroys our ecosystem, and, unless regulated, will continue to do so in increasing amounts.
The time to act on coal ash is now. Help us get to our target of 10,000 signatures by signing our petition telling the EPA to regulate coal ash as a hazardous substance.
Via the Wonk Room:
The coal industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to get out the message of “clean coal,” through front groups like the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, campaign contributions, and an army of lobbyists. But the devastating December 22, 2008 coal ash slurry spill of the Kingston Fossil Plant in rural Tennessee broke through the cacophony of clean coal carolers. This ThinkProgress Wonk Room video is a stark reminder that in reality, coal isn’t clean.