Show-Me More Coal
By CAROLYN SZCZEPANSKI
In Kansas, the battle over a pair of new coal-fired power plants in western Kansas has gridlocked state politics for nearly two months. But on the Missouri side, officials aren’t too concerned about a little inconvenience like global warming. Yesterday, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources said: Show-Me more coal!
The new plant will be built by Springfield-based Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. in Norborne, a small town 60 miles northeast of Kansas City. Company spokeswoman Nancy Southworth says the plan was scrutinized by the state and has plenty of pollution controls to protect the environment. “The plant is equipped with the best technology on the market,” she says.
But Melissa Hope, development director with the Missouri Sierra Club, says local residents aren’t interested in more dirty, coal power. “The folks making the political decisions are really not listening to the public, like in Kansas,” Hope says. “In Missouri, we want to move toward clean energy. This puts us 50 years in the hole.”
The Sierra Club is planning to appeal the DNR’s decision. But, in addition to the legal angle, Hope says the Missouri Clean Energy Coalition is encouraging a grassroots uprising aimed at the power co-ops themselves. Through the group’s Web site, residents can send an e-mail directly to their power providers, encouraging them to dump coal in favor of renewable options, like wind.
With plenty of Missouri Republicans happy to deny the existence of global warming, Hope says, there’s little chance of a political debate in Jefferson City like the one raging in Topeka. So to stop this coal plant — just a short drive from Kansas City — it will take some serious firepower in the courts or an avalanche of protest from pissed-off citizens.
