Power Plant Ruling Was Not Activism

Daily Views: Editorial - Posted on August 13,2008

In a news article published by The Albany Herald on July 30, Georgia Chamber of Commerce President George Israel expressed his discontent with a decision made by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore, calling her an "activist judge" whose decision to deny Dynegy's Longleaf coal plant would drive up energy costs and stifle economic growth across Georgia for years to come.

Mr. Israel's statements are misleading and couldn't be further from the truth. This plant would have produced 9 million tons of global-warming CO2 pollution each year, equal to the pollution of adding 1.3 million new cars on the road. The Clean Air Act requires that EPD permits for massive new sources of pollution, like the proposed power plant, must limit the amount of all pollutants that are subject to regulation under the Act.

In her decision, Judge Moore simply applied this straightforward rule to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, recognizing that CO2 fits squarely in the middle of the statutory requirement. All Judge Moore did was enforce a law written by our elected officials.

In contradiction to Mr. Israel's alarmist tone, Georgia can generate more power more quickly by investing the $2 billion cost of the Longleaf Coal Plant in efficiency, solar and wind power and save money without any of the negative drawbacks of continued dependence on coal. Georgia currently ranks 38th in the nation on state spending for energy efficiency programs. Estimates suggest that we could reduce our energy consumption by 30 percent simply by using existing conservation technology and thereby remove the need for this plant. Increasing efficiency is the simplest, cheapest way to meet many of our energy needs.

Where efficiency ends, wind and solar can take over. A wind energy study completed in 2007 by Georgia Tech's Strategic Energy Institute indicates that offshore wind could produce 10,000 megawatts of energy and another potential for 4,000 megawatts in North Georgia. Also, Georgia has so much solar power potential that start up Suniva in Norcross was able to raise $50 million in venture capital earlier this year to build photovoltaic panels.

Where does all this potential get us? Jobs! According to a report from the Blue-Green Alliance, a partnership of the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, investing in renewable energy today could create over 16,000 clean, good- paying jobs in Georgia. The jobs potential is way higher than the 100 jobs promised by Dynegy corporation to Early County officials to run the Longleaf coal plant.

In this same article, Georgia Chamber Director of Government Affairs Ryan Mahoney states that no court anywhere in this country has ever ruled that CO2 is regulated. This is completely false. In March of 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts vs. EPA that the Environmental Protection Agency not only had the authority to regulate greenhouse gases but furthermore ruled that the agency could not sidestep its authority to regulate greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change unless it could provide a scientific basis for its refusal. Judge Moore did what she had to do: issue her ruling according to the law of the land, which is the opposite of an activist judge.

When it comes down to it, this Dynegy plant is not about what is best for Georgia. The $2 billion investment in the coal plant is recovered through the rate-payer process of people paying electric bills, which will continue to rise as transportation costs bringing coal into Georgia and mining coal rise.

Dynegy is trying to sell us yesterday's technology at tomorrow's price. Georgians deserve better. We're saddened that the Georgia Chamber of Commerce is willing to miss the opportunity to be a leader in new technology job creation, and chose not to take what is obviously the more fiscally responsible course.

Patty Durand
is state director of the Georgia chapter of the Sierra Club.