Global Warming News

New Jersey Environmentalists Call for a State Moratorium on New Coal Plants and Coal Plant Expansions

As the new home of NJPIRG's environmental work, Environment New Jersey can be contacted regarding this news release.

TRENTON—Energy companies are planning to build over 150 coal-fired power plants across the United States, according to Making Sense of the ‘Coal Rush,' a report released on July 20 by NJPIRG, the NJEF, the Sierra Club of New Jersey, and environmental groups in over 20 other states. If built, the new coal plants many of which are upstream of New Jersey would increase total U.S. global warming pollution by more than 10 percent and lock in decades of excess emissions.

“This rush to build new coal generation would take us in the wrong direction on energy policy, here in New Jersey and around the nation,” said Dena Mottola, Executive Director of NJPIRG. “Expanding our dependence on coal will only make global warming and other environmental and public health impacts from coal worse.”

The new report released today, “Making Sense of the ‘Coal Rush,’’ updates a list of coal-fired power plant proposals originally compiled by the U.S. Department of Energy. The report examines the consequences of building these plants, including: increased pollution; financial risks for energy companies, investors and the economy; increased mining impacts; and the lost opportunity to invest in cleaner, more sustainable—and often cheaper—solutions like energy efficiency and renewable energy.

“As a coastal state with some of the worst air quality in the country, New Jersey should be a national leader in stopping global warming not aggravating it,” said David Pringle, Campaign Director of the NJ Environmental Federation. “We need to be advancing conservation, efficiency and clean renewable energy sources not dirty coal, dirtier coal, and their fossil fuel brethren.

The level of added coal-fired electric generating capacity now proposed has not been seen since the 1960s and 1970s. There have been no new coal plants built in New Jersey since 1994, and nationwide, the amount of new coal generation has been declining steeply since 1980, until now. Two weeks ago, West Deptford Township announced that it would sell 300 acres to LS Power to build a new coal plant within the town. And state regulators are also considering allowing a currently shut down coal plant in Cape May County to be re-powered and expanded, once it is sold. (The BL England Plant, now owned by Atlantic City Electric Company, is up for sale.)

“When it comes to global warming, New Jersey has to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. We not only have to oppose coal power plants in other states, but here as well. And there is no such thing as clean coal, it’s an oxymoron,” added Jeff Tittel of the Sierra Club’s NJ Chapter.

The early effects of global warming are evident across the U.S. and worldwide. Left unchecked, global warming threatens to cause wide ranging problems for New Jersey and the nation, such as flooding of coastal areas, drought, species extinction, and disease outbreaks.

Earlier this summer, NJPIRG, NJEF and Sierra Club NJ called on Governor Corzine to make a public commitment that New Jersey would make steep reductions in its global warming emissions and become a model for the rest of the states and the nation. The groups have specifically called on the Governor to pledge to reduce the state’s emissions by 20% by 2020 and 70% by 2050, the level of reductions scientists say are necessary to avoid the worst effects of global warming. But because coal-fired power plants can last for 50 years or more, investing in new coal-fired facilities now will make it much harder to achieve emission cuts on this scale.

“ America could substantially reduce its global warming pollution using existing technology to improve energy efficiency and increase the use of clean, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass,” continued NJPIRG’s Mottola. “What’s more, these steps would be good for America’s economy; creating jobs and improving productivity. But not if we stake our energy future on coal.”

Building the plants would require a capital investment of $137 billion dollars. Investing that money in energy efficiency instead would reduce U.S. electricity demand by about 19 percent in 2025 vs. business as usual (saving 1 million GWh per year). These savings would obviate the need for the all of the coal plants on the drawing board. Alternately, investing that money in wind energy would allow the development of 110 GW of the best wind energy locations in the western U.S., which could produce electricity at an overall cost comparable to coal.

The groups call for several steps to stem the “coal rush.”

• First, our state and national leaders should commit to the significant global warming emission reductions called for by the scientific community and establish a cap on carbon dioxide pollution , to be lowered over time to achieve a 70% - 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by mid century;
• Second, the Governor and state legislature should join Idaho officials in establishing a moratorium on new coal plants and large coal plant expansions in New Jersey , in order to evaluate the environmental and economic impacts. This would give policymakers time to study and understand the true costs of coal-fired electric generation compared to safer alternatives, and study the health damaging effects of coal, fuel costs, the declining cost of renewable energy, the societal cost of global warming if emissions are not reduced, and the true expense of making coal plants zero carbon emitters to meet anticipated regulations expected in the near-future. The moratorium should only be lifted if it can be demonstrated that coal is the most cost effective way to deal with global warming.
• Third, policymakers should stop subsidizing coal. Public money should not be spent on coal technology. From 1950 – 1997, the coal industry received 70 billion in federal tax subsidies. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 gives the coal industry another 7.8 billion of taxpayers dollars; and
• Finally, our leaders should dramatically expand programs to develop energy efficiency and renewable energy resources and make these safer alternatives the primary means of meeting our growing energy needs. The state and the nation should adopt strong energy efficiency standards for new homes, commercial buildings, and gas and electric appliances; and increase subsidies for renewable energy installations. The federal government should take its cue from New Jersey and establish a strong renewable energy requirement on utility companies.

At the federal level, on June 20, Rep. Waxman introduced the Safe Climate Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. It would require the U.S. to reduce its global warming pollution 15 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050. To achieve these targets, the bill calls for improved energy efficiency and a greater reliance on clean, renewable energy sources, while providing companies flexibility in meeting the pollution-reduction goals through a “cap-and-trade” program. Senator Jeffords of Vermont introduced a similar bill in the Senate this week.

Similar legislation called the Global Warming Response Act, has also been introduced in the New Jersey legislature by Assemblywoman Linda Stender (A3301) and Senator Barbara Buono (S2114).

“This legislation will do for New Jersey what should be done for the whole country – a systematic reduction, which can be accelerated over time through new technology, of greenhouse gases,” said Senator Barbara Buono, Middlesex County Democrat representing the 18 th Legislative District. “I commend the goals of this news conference – that is imperative for us to act now and reverse conditions which are rendering us almost combustible from an inundation of greenhouse gases. By initiating an inventory of sources and targeting achievable reduction levels, we can truly save the future for our children.”

“Our leaders must take decisive action to stop the rush to build new coal plants and avoid the worst effects of global warming,” concluded NJPIRG’s Mottola.