Taylorville coal plant coverage

The Chicago Tribune has an article today about the Taylorville coal power plant I wrote about yesterday. It reports:

The lack of a binding commitment from the plant's developers on cutting carbon dioxide emissions concerns environmentalists because coal gasification plants are designed to be more adaptable to capturing carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for heating up the planet. But for now the developers will not be required to install the equipment.

Omitting limits on carbon dioxide emissions runs counter to Blagojevich's pledge to reduce the state's production of greenhouse gases by 25 percent by 2020 and 60 percent by 2060. Most experts think any solution will require cleaner power plants and cars.

"We're all ears if they are willing to talk about how this plant will fit into a carbon-constrained world," said Bruce Nilles, an attorney who runs the Sierra Club's Midwest Clean Air Campaign. "As it stands now, the emissions would equal the global warming pollution from 500,000 cars every year."

Since C02 emissions aren't currently regulated, that wasn't considered in the IEPA's approval of the permit to build the plant.

The Reuters wire story calls it a "clean coal" plant, which is a misnomer. IGGC plants do emit less toxins than old coal-fire plants but there's really no such thing as a "clean" coal plant. The Reuters story included numerous quotes from the company building the plant, including a statement that it has support from environmentalists, but failed to mention the critical statements released by the Sierra Club and the Environment Illinois. That must be the liberal media bias I keep hearing about.

The SJ-R had the story online as late-breaking news yesterday afternoon, but I can't find it in today's paper.

On a more positive note, last night the Springfield city council unanimously passed the second part of CWLP's wind power contract! It's great to see how much support there is for real clean power use in Springfield now that some of the political posturing has died down.

Updated added on 6/7: Thanks to my friend who pointed out that the SJ-R's story I missed on the power plant was in the Marketplace section of Wednesday's paper on page 31. Also, the article mentions a bill in the General Assembly requiring Ameren and ComEd to purchase power from the Taylorville coal plant. I think everyone would be better off with the bill requiring utilities to implement energy conservation and efficiency measure that would result in lower bills for customers and a greater benefit to the environment.