TXU Manipulated Texas Power Market
Shareholders Challenge TXU on New Coal Plants and Energy Efficiency
Air Quality is Our Business Too - Dallas Morning News
Notice of Intent to File Federal Lawsuit Sent to TXU September 30, 2006
PDF file of legal notice of lawsuit (3.1 MG file - long download time)
Update on TCEQ's reaction to Judges' ruling
More on ruling at stopthecoalplant.org
Paul Rolke's full statement about the ruling
Richard Furman's expert testimony in the Oak Grove hearing Extremely successful "Walk and Talk" results:
almost 700 people sign our petition!
There have been a number of developments in our efforts to ensure that the coal plants built in our area are as clean as they can be.
- The vote on the Oak Grove permit has been delayed,
- a rally is planned at the state Capitol by groups from all over the state,
- US Congressman Chet Edwards has expressed concerns about the permitting process,
- and a large number of religious groups are coming out in opposition to the coal plants.
Details below.
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The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality previously decided to postpone the vote on the Oak Grove permit until January 10, 2007. We were informed last week that the vote would be delayed again. One of the three commissioners resigned, effective January first. This is the reason the commission gave for postponing the vote. They characterized the delay as "indefinite". We assume this means they will not vote until a new commissioner is confirmed. But given the amount of political influence that has gone on throughout this process, we can't be sure when the vote will be scheduled. In the meantime, we will focus our efforts on informing and influencing our elected officials. To that end, we are asking each and every one of you to pick up the phone or pick up a pen right now and call or write the following state legislators. Tell them that you are a constituent, that you are concerned about the pollution from the proposed plants in our County, and that you would like them to support legislation calling for a time out on these fast tracked permits which would allow a thorough analysis of whether these plants are being built in a safe way. Senator Steve Ogden
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STEPS - FEBRUARY 11, 2007 Time Out! Rally to Stop the Coal Rush
Robertson County: Our Land, Our Lives has endorsed a rally to be held Sunday, February 11 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the steps of the state Capitol.
The rally is being sponsored by 17 Texas groups, and that list is growing larger every day.
Following the rally there will be a seminar on how best to present our concerns to state legislators. Then on Monday morning, the different groups will go and speak with their area legislators, and there will be a forum to educate legislators and staff members about the details of the coal plant issue.
If you are concerned about the health of your family, you need to be in Austin on the 11th. This is a unique opportunity to join with others from around the state to make a dramatic political statement. And that statement is -- we need to slow down and make an objective, practical decision about how best to meet the energy needs of this state, which supports our continued economic development and protects the health and safety of our citizens. So please, make your plans now to attend the rally.
Go to
We will send more information in the following weeks. We will also be coordinating accommodations in Austin, carpooling, and perhaps a bus.
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OF STUDIES ON IMPACT OF COAL-FIRED PLANTS
Thursday, January 04, 2007
U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards says the state agency responsible for permitting 16 proposed coal-fired power plants in Texas hasn’t done its homework.
Edwards, D-Waco, said the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality hasn’t adequately considered the cumulative impact of the power plants on air quality in Central Texas before recommending the permits for approval. Eight coal plants are planned in Central Texas, including three in McLennan County.
"The decision to operate these coal plants will impact our environment for 50 years, and it is wrong for TCEQ to ignore the cumulative impact to air quality that these proposed coal plants will have on the quality of life for Central Texas families," Edwards said in a statement.
Edwards was responding to a Tribune-Herald news story from last month that quoted TCEQ executive director Glenn Shankle. Shankle said that, in the permitting process, the TCEQ was looking at the pollution impact of each individual proposed plant, not all of them together. An Edwards spokesman said Shankle repeated that position in a phone conversation this week.
"That type of flawed logic would allow me to eat an unlimited amount of ice cream on a diet, because, as long as I only eat one cone at a time, it won’t have any impact on increasing my weight," wrote Edwards, who is unable to talk because of recent throat surgery.
Environmental groups, the Environmental Protection Agency and the city of Waco also have criticized the TCEQ for what they call an inadequate analysis of the plants’ cumulative impact, particularly for ozone smog pollution.
However, TCEQ staff members say it’s not true to say the permitting process doesn’t take into account the combined effect of the proposed projects.
Erik Hendrickson, a team leader in the agency’s air permits division, said applicants are required to model the air pollution impact of each project, taking into account existing and proposed sources. The analysis looks at pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, particulates and nitrogen dioxide, which is a precursor of smog. However, the analysis does not require a cumulative-impact study of smog itself, which can form more than 100 miles away from a nitrogen dioxide source.
"When people say a cumulative analysis hasn’t been done, that’s really not true," he said. "What they mean is an ozone analysis."
Hendrickson said the state is addressing ozone concerns through a separate but parallel process called the State Implementation Plan. The plan, which will be submitted to the EPA next summer, will offer a comprehensive approach for controlling ozone pollution, he said.
But many environmental groups say that step is too late and that the TCEQ should know and take into account cumulative ozone pollution effects before issuing more power plant permits.
Tom "Smitty" Smith, executive director of the environmental group Public Citizen, called the TCEQ’s pollution analysis "inadequate" because it isn’t wide enough.
For example, he said, the state agency usually looks only at a 50-kilometer radius when studying nitrogen dioxide impacts, a study area that he said is much too small.
"We have pollution traveling to Waco from as far away as southern Mexico," he said. "To say there’s no impact 37 miles away from the source is ludicrous."
The Environmental Protection Agency requires the state to consider "nearby" pollution sources, existing and potential, in the permitting process, EPA regional air permit chief Carl Edlund said. But he said the term "nearby" is not defined.
The EPA has filed comments with the TCEQ raising concerns that the air quality impact of the plants on Central Texas has not been adequately documented.
Edwards in recent months has been urging the EPA to do its own pollution-impact studies and put pressure on the TCEQ. He said he will write a letter to the EPA this week "to express my deep disappointment on the flawed TCEQ position."
The EPA delegates environmental enforcement to the state of Texas but still has an oversight role.
Edwards said the TCEQ has a "spotty track record" in regulating pollution. He was referring to the long struggle over cleaning up dairy pollution from the North Bosque River. He noted that the TCEQ was asked to draft new rules on the upstream dairies in June 2004 but still has not implemented them.
"I hope TCEQ doesn’t use its approach to protecting Lake Waco’s water quality as a model for protecting our air quality for generations to come," he said.
The author of this article, J. B. Smith can be contacted by e-mail at jbsmith@wacotrib.com, or by phone at 757-5752
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PRAYER AGAINST NEW COAL-FIRED PLANTS IN TEXAS
By Hannah Elliott
DALLAS (Associated Baptist Press) -- Texas Christians -- by reputation a determined, opinionated and politically powerful bunch -- recently held another statewide prayer day. This time, though, it wasn’t about abortion or gay marriage. It was about coal.
On Oct. 19, a group of environmentally minded Texans convened in front of the governor’s mansion in Austin to pray about some 17 coal-burning power plants proposed for the state. They were joined by comrades at other locations across the state.
Their concern: the environmental and health dangers posed by burning coal.
Some participated for reasons of faith; others were more involved in the political scheme of things. For Matthew Sleeth, however, the common bond was "a concern for their neighbors."
Sleeth provided much of the impetus for the prayer day, touring five Texas cities last September to raise awareness about the proposed coal plants. A former physician, he teaches and writes full time about earth stewardship. He wrote Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action, which was published in June.
Sleeth's eight-day tour was arranged by Sustainable Dallas, Public Citizen and Interfaith Power and Light, all organizations aimed at sustainability and environmental protection. Founded by Ralph Nader, Public Citizen focuses primarily on consumer advocacy and governmental accountability.
Sleeth and his wife, Nancy, visited roughly 15 environmental groups, churches and colleges like Southern Methodist University, Baylor University and Texas Christian University. Both Sleeths said the tour was essential for raising awareness about health and environment issues, especially among Christians.
"In the final analysis, the decision on building the coal plants will not be a logical one. Rather, it will be a spiritual one," Sleeth said in a written statement about the event. "We will have to answer [if] we have the heart to continue down this path. How many more mountains made of coal should we level in order to run our multiple televisions and refrigerators? Who better to ask than the Lord?"
Sleeth’s concern about the coal plants -- which offer energy cheaper than oil and are perceived as more reliable than some renewable power sources -- has to do with their side effects. Texas already produces the most carbon dioxide of any U.S. state. Breathing the secondhand smog put out from burning coal can be just as harmful as smoking, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Smog-related diseases include heart disease, lung disease, asthma and stroke.
The federal government does not regulate carbon dioxide emissions. Each year the new Texas plants would emit the same amount of carbon dioxide as 19 million cars, according to a recent National Public Radio report. The new coal plants will also pollute the air with nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury. There are no plans to shut down or replace existing plants.
Despite such effects, roughly 150 new coal-fired plants are planned across the nation, according to the National Energy Technology Laboratory. Illinois and Texas are the only states with more than 10 plants planned. Eleven of the plants in Texas belong to the state’s largest power company, TXU Corp. The company has announced a five-year, $10 billion plan to build the plants faster and cheaper than ever before.
TXU officials have set up a website
Big names have joined the fight. In a recent op-ed article in the Dallas Morning News, Texas governor Rick Perry wrote that a delay in building the plants would damage the state's economy. He also dismissed the opposition's concerns over air quality, noting that TXU has announced plans to install $500 million-worth of anti-pollution devices on some of its older plants.
For Sleeth and others like him, the task at hand is to pray for the utility owners, activists and oil companies -- "everything that sustains us."
Nancy Sleeth said she and Matthew believe they have a biblically based responsibility to care for God’s creation, including humans. Jesus commands people to love one another, she said, so Matthew preaches a message of love. They aim to "build bridges to help more people become good stewards of God's abundant blessings."
In addition to teaching environmental stewardship, Sleeth educates people about the health risks of pollution. As a physician, he has seen breast cancer and asthma rates soar. At such a dramatic rate, he said, the nation can’t afford to spend time looking only for cures and not for prevention tactics.
"Both my head and my heart tell me that we should not build the dozens and dozens of coal plants that are being fast-tracked into production nationwide," he said. "The drive behind this unprecedented push is not to meet current demand, nor is it to meet the needs of the next decade. This rush to build coal-fired plants is, in fact, motivated by the desire to grandfather in these plants before stricter emissions requirements go into effect."
Half of the power generated in the United States comes from coal, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Analysts estimate that U.S. coal reserves could last for the next 200 to 250 years.
The new units will use coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, with 9,000 rail cars operating continuously to transport the coal. Construction could begin in 2007. Plants would be operational in 2009.
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