October 1, Flagstaff, Arizona — As Hopi and Navajo leaders in the American Southwest evaluate their energy policies, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups remain committed to working with their tribal partners to find clean energy solutions that work for everyone.
"We are proud of our longstanding partnerships with tribal leaders in the Southwest, and we are committed to supporting efforts to transition from dirty coal to clean energy solutions," said Sierra Club President Allison Chin. "Together, we can rekindle our economy, reduce greenhouse gases and support people who have been left in the dust by a dangerous and dirty, coal-based economy."
For decades, Southwestern tribes have suffered from poisoned groundwater, air pollution, and sacred land destruction caused by coal mines and power plants. But the Navajo Nation’s recent unanimous green jobs resolution and the solar power projects in the Hopi village of Hotevilla are strong signs that clean energy solutions are gaining momentum. Dirty coal pollution also threatens nearby Grand Canyon National Park, a treasure for all Americans.
"We, the Hopi/Tewa people, have worked closely for many years with our allies from the environmental community to protect sacred lands from development and to stop uranium mining from poisoning our water," said Alph H. Secakuku, Sipaulovi Council Representative for the Village of Sipaulovi, Second Mesa, Arizona, Hopiland. "We will continue to work together—tribal communities and other clean energy jobs advocates—to bring green economic development to our lands that respects our air and water."
A report soon to be released by Natural Capitalism Solutions (NCS) shows in stark detail how a combination of renewable energy development deployed with aggressive energy efficiency measures provides far more, long term, sustainable job creation, along with overall economic benefits, than traditional sources such as coal.
"Black Mesa Water Coalition appreciates the non-native individuals and environmental organizations that have supported our leadership as a Navajo grassroots organization," said Black Mesa Water Coalition Co-director Enei Begaye. "Native grassroots people are and should be in the lead on these issues in and around tribal lands."
"We were quite amazed," said report author Paul Sheldon, Senior Economist of NCS. "In some cases the models show ten times the number of jobs created from certain solar technologies verses coal-based generation." Sheldon said the lands of the Southwest hold some of the country's greatest solar and wind potential, resources that will still be there centuries after the last ounce of coal has been mined and burned.
To address climate change and to support communities, Southwest tribes and environmental groups have worked in partnership for years to promote clean energy, health and water issues by cleaning up dirty coal plants and promoting solar and wind projects on the reservations.
"NRDC is proud to have longstanding relationships with Tribal Nations across the country," said Phil Gutis, communications director for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "We are committed to continuing our work with Tribal Nations, including local Navajo allies, to find productive, clean and sustainable economic development opportunities that power and protect their communities."
"It is truly heartening to see that the indigenous grassroots organizations have become highly proficient in working with their governments from the local to the central levels," said Tony Skrelunas, Native America program director for Grand Canyon Trust and former Navajo Nation executive. "This is something that should be welcomed by all Navajo and Hopi communities since many members of these organizations will be our future leaders."
"Global warming is a threat on and off Navajo and Hopi lands," said Hertha Woody, a member of the Navajo Nation and a Sierra Club volunteer leader in Flagstaff. "There is great potential for solar and wind projects to help reduce the emissions that contribute to global warming, and we are proud to continue to support a transition from coal to clean energy that will create a more sustainable economy."
Sierra Club is honored to work with our tribal partners in transitioning to a clean energy future, including the Black Mesa Water Coalition, Dooda Desert Rock, Hopis Organized for Political Initiatives (H.O.P.I.), the Navajo Green Economy Coalition, To’ Nizhoni Ani, C-Aquifer for the Diné, and other community organizations.
September 25, San Francisco (CA) — The long-contested air permit for the controversial Sithe Global Desert Rock coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Reservation was officially revoked by the Environmental Protection Agency today due to confirmed deficiencies in the permit's environmental analysis.
The appeal was filed in August of 2008 with the Environmental Appeals Board in Washington DC by attorneys for DINÉ Care, Environmental Defense Fund, Grand Canyon Trust, Natural Resources Defense Council, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Sierra Club, and WildEarth Guardians. Alleged in the appeal were “numerous significant substantive and procedural errors” in the environmental analysis of the permit process.
In a rare move, the EPA’s Region 9 office in San Francisco requested in April of this year that the EAB voluntarily remand the permit, before the Board had fully reviewed the appeal. In it's motion, Region 9 stated, "Given the number of the issues in the appeal that Region 9 seeks to reconsider and the prior withdrawal of a portion of the permitting record by Region 9, a complete remand of the Final PSD Permit and administrative record will promote efficiency in the Agency's decision-making and potentially enable Region 9 to resolve several disputed issues." Among the issues are inadequate analysis of Desert Rock’s particulate matter, mercury, ozone precursor, and carbon dioxide emissions, and failure to consult with other agencies on the permit.
"We've been saying for a long time that the Desert Rock permit process was flawed from the start due to existing adverse environmental and human public health conditions," said Lori Goodman with DINÉ Care. "This situation would be worsened by the addition of Desert Rock. We are thankful that EPA has now stepped up to uphold the law and look out for the health of the people of the Four Corners Region, including the Navajo Nation."
"This is a coal plant that should never be built," said Mike Eisenfeld with SJCA. "It's time for Sithe Global to consider some of their expertise in siting renewable energy in the region rather than continuing to bankroll the Desert Rock project that has insurmountable issues."
"We firmly believe that the EPA has accepted and acknowledged their responsibilities to evaluate Desert Rock under the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act," said Janette Brimmer with Earthjustice in Seattle, attorneys for several groups including Dine’ Care and San Juan Citizens Alliance. "Given this remand, we now have a chance to ensure that EPA fully complies with all legal requirements and properly applies good science in order to fully protect the air and all the residents of this beautiful region of the county."
July 15 — As part of the Sierra Club's long term commitment to stopping new coal-fired power plants, the No Blackstone Coal campaign was launched to influence Blackstone corporate leaders to invest in renewable energy projects instead of coal projects. So far, this campaign has caused 1500 people to send e-mails to the CEO of Blackstone urging him to invest in renewable energy and not coal projects.
Blackstone Group and Sithe Global are trying to develop three large, dirty coal-fired power plants in the United States. These include the Desert Rock Energy Project in NM, the Toquop Energy Project in Nevada, and the River Hills Energy Project in Pa.
These three plants would produce over 2,500 megawatts of electricity for 50 years and, combined, would emit over 20 million tons of climate change-causing carbon dioxide every year, or over 1 billion tons of CO2 in the plants’ lifetimes. In addition, these plants would produce millions of tons of toxic pollutants in the form of airborne emissions and spent coal ash, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, selenium and a variety of heavy metals, while also displacing real opportunities for clean, renewable energy and the jobs that come with them.
Local opposition to these plants from Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, the Four Corners region, and Pennsylvania is organized and very vocal. In addition to calls for these plants to be stopped, locals are also asking Blackstone to invest their dollars in clean renewable energy, not dirty coal. But we need your help. Visit our Website to take action.
Website: www.noblackstonecoal.com or join the FaceBook group No Blackstone Coal.
July 14 — Clean coal is an oxymoron. In other words, it is not real. Even the most advanced coal-fired power plant designs that have been conceived are not clean….
Kelly Fennerty, representing the Summit Power Group (a leading proponent of IGCC + CCS coal plants), spoke to a packed house at the Energy in the Southwest Conference in Santa Fe on July 14.
She stated that current Carbon Capture & Sequestration proposals are only 85% carbon capture or produce equal pollution asNatural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) at 1100 pounds CO2/MWh.
Further, she stated that the much discussed FutureGen project being discussed in Washington is only 60% carbon capture.
So, don't be confused. Coal-fired power plants are not clean. PERIOD.
July 9 — Washington, DC: Americans can breathe easier today as Intermountain Power’s coal plant in Utah became the 100th new coal plant to be prevented or abandoned since the beginning of the coal rush in 2001. In their place, a smart mix of clean energy solutions like energy efficiency, wind, solar and geothermal has stepped up to meet America’s energy needs. Last year 42 percent of all new power producing capacity came from wind, and for the first time the wind industry created more jobs than mining coal. And it’s not just wind, significant job creation is happening across the clean energy spectrum.
Coming just a week after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the city would end coal use by 2020, and announced the same day as a decision by Basin Electric Power in South Dakota to pull plans for a new coal-fired power plant, the Intermountain Power coal plant marks a significant milestone in the shift to clean energy.
"We are witnessing a remarkable transformation toward a cleaner, healthier, more secure future," said Bruce Nilles, Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. "At the beginning of the coal rush in 2001, it seemed inevitable that as many as 150 new proposed coal plants would get built. Since then we’ve seen an incredible change in the way people, businesses and governments-- like Los Angeles-- are thinking about energy, figuring out how to generate and use it more cleanly and efficiently. Coal is no longer a smart or cost-effective option. We can create jobs and electricity through clean energy technology made in America."
For the past six years the Sierra Club and its allies have been running a hard-hitting campaign to expose the dirty truth about coal. Tremendous grassroots pressure, rising costs, and upcoming federal carbon regulations all contributed to the demise of the 100 plants. Activists with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign worked on the ground in almost every state to fight local coal plant proposals, turning out to public hearings, holding rallies and meeting with officials to push for cleaner and cheaper energy options for their area.
"I was around for the first coal plant Sierra Club tackled; against all odds and with literally only a handful of us who believed in fighting the plant. Now, only a couple of years later, there are thousands of grassroots volunteers who are helping defeat the construction of polluting coal burning plants. We are seeing a movement," said Verena Owen, volunteer chair of the Beyond Coal Campaign.
For more, visit www.sierraclub.org/100coalplants or join the Sierra Club FaceBook page.
June 11 — Fifteen environmental organizations from Arizona, New Mexico and the Navajo Nation are teaming together to increase renewable energy and reduce coal-fired power in the region.
"Our first priority is to stop proposed new coal developments such as Desert Rock" says Mike Eisenfeld of the San Juan Citizens Alliance. The "No Blackstone Coal" corporate accountability campaign led by the Sierra Club is the latest action in this long term effort to ensure that more coal plants are not built in this region. So far, 1500 people have sent e-mails to the CEO of Blackstone urging him to invest in renewable energy instead of coal.
Andy Bessler and Robert Tohe, representing the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club, say "we are working with many tribal organizations to support the Dine fundamental law that respects mother earth to create green job opportunities and reduce coal dependence". Navajo lands have excellent clean energy resources in wind and solar that could be developed to improve health in the four corners area by dramatically reducing air pollution, and reduce green house gases to address climate change.
David Van Winkle and Robb Thomson, represent the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club on these issues. "We have a long term commitment to improve energy efficiency, increase renewable energy production, and reduce coal-fired power that will provide economic stimulus through green jobs and address pollution/climate change in New Mexico."
Dan Ritzman, leader of the Western Clean Energy Campaign for the Sierra Club said "Our top two priorities are to stop new coal-fired power plants and to stop coal mountain top removal projects"
May 15 — The Sierra Club, the Grand Canyon Trust, and the NM Environment Department initiated legal action against PNM to significantly reduce pollution from its San Juan coal-fired power plant. Due to this legal action, an agreement was reached that required PNM to implement environmental upgrades. These upgrades, totaling $330M, were completed in 2Q09. Pollution has been significantly reduced. Data from the first three of the plant’s four units to be upgraded shows an approximate:
The Sierra Club drove this major change and it certainly does improve air quality in the region. However, THESE CHANGES HAVE ZERO IMPACT ON CO2 OUTPUT and thus HAVE NO IMPACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE. So, the San Juan plant has gotten better, but it is still not good.