Coal Plant Problems
Today and through the next few years, the states in the Interior West face decisions about the region’s energy future that have far-reaching implications. Will Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Nevada choose to significantly pollute their air and water with a new round of coal-fired power plants, built primarily to serve markets on the West Coast and Midwest? Or will the region continue to move toward a sustainable energy future?
Currently, there are more than 25 proposed new or expanded coal-fired power plants in the Interior West. Coal plants emit a number of dangerous air pollutants, including:
The amount of pollutants the plants would emit is staggering. The proposed plants in the Interior West would collectively emit 116 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. Those emissions are approximately equivalent to the emissions from 19.8 million cars! However, unlike cars, a coal plant built today will operate for the next 60 years. Therefore, the construction of new coal plants means a commitment to dirty power for at least the next 60 years.
The proposed coal plants in the Interior West represent over 16,500 megawatts of new energy. These plants would provide electricity for over 14,500,000 homes. While the population is growing rapidly in the West, it is possible and even profitable to develop new energy sources and reduce energy needs without constructing coal plants that harm our health and our environment.
Proponents of coal will often argue that coal is cheap and plentiful. However, both of these assumptions are false. While coal plants are cheap to operate on a daily basis, they require a large up-front investment to build, and cleaning up the plants in the future will be expensive and difficult. Therefore, investors in coal plants will want to protect their investment and use the coal plant for the duration of its life to justify the initial cost of construction and other large costs down the road. Jumping into coal plant construction supplants investment in energy efficiency and renewable resources.
Furthermore, a recent Congressional study revealed that the coal in the United States will only last between 23 and 100 years, instead of the 250 years that coal proponents often state. Knowing that we have access to only a limited supply of coal, it is even more important to plan for an energy future that uses renewable sources. 24 states and the District of Columbia have already adopted Renewable Portfolio Standards that specify that utilities generate a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources. It is time that not only the Interior West but also the whole country plan for a renewable future.
Coal plants use a large amount of valuable water. The 16,500 MW of proposed new coal plants would use up to 114 million gallons of water per day. This is enough water to meet the needs of 591,000 new people. For more information, see WRA’s The Last Straw
report.
For a comprehensive look at coal plants, from mining to disposal, look at the Sierra Club’s report, The Dirty Truth About Coal or see the Clean Air Task Force’s Cradle to Grave.
There are many problems associated with coal plants. And there are also many ways to meet our energy needs without building new plants with old technologies. Click here to read about solutions.
Read about Solutions.