Subscribe to Dollars & Sense magazine. Recent articles related to the financial crisis. More on the TXU carbon emissions agreementThe decision by TXU's private buyers to cut back its dirty coal permit applications and to reduce its existing environmental impact rested on the realization that in an energy market where consumers care about how their electricity affects their health and the environment, "the entrepreneurial and the innovative will get more profit" than the polluting approach, said Fred Krupp, executive director of Environmetnal Defense.Environmental Defense also says: In addition to withdrawing permit applications for eight proposed coal plants, Texas Pacific Group and KKR have agreed to:
Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council, which negotiated the deal with TXU's buyers, praised their organizations' Texas offices and all of the other organizations and activists who have put pressure on TXU to drop its plans to double its greenhouse gas emissions since the company filed the eleven dirty coal permits in April 2006. These groups included the Sierra Club, Public Citizen, Rainforest Action Network, the SEED Coalition, the Texas Cities for Clean Air Coalition, Texas Business for Clean Air, Citizens Organized for Resources and the Environment, and Neighbors for Neighbors. A representative of the Sierra Club's Lone Star chapter said, "I think that public, grassroots pressure played a big role in this. If the people hadn't spoken up loudly and consistently, the powers that be might still have gone through with it." For some groups, may be a bittersweet victory. According to Environmental Defense: As part of the negotiations leading up to the announcement, Environmental Defense agreed to settle its federal lawsuit against TXU (regarding the Sandow unit) in exchange for an aggressive environmental pledge from Texas Pacific Group and KKR. The new company will continue to pursue permits for the Sandow unit and the two Oak Grove units. Members of the press from Waco, which will be downwind from two of the TXU plants that remain in permitting, expressed concern about the Oak Grove facilities in a conference call with Environmental Defense and NRDC this afternoon. And long-time Dollars & Sense will recall the ongoing fight near Rockdale, Texas, against Alcoa's (and now TXU's) expansion of its aluminum smelter and associated lignite mines and plant in that area. The Sierra Club said that while the group views the withdrawal of the eight permit applications and the other aspects of the agreement as "really exciting, especially the endorsement of the carbon cap," it's important to remember that 11 of the 19 dirty coal permit applications that followed Texas Governor Perry's fast track permitting order in October 2005 are still under consideration. And of the three TXU plants still in permitting, she said, "The Oak Grove ones are the worst. The worst." The Sierra Club added that because these other plants are still under consideration, it's very important that concerned citizens keep pressure on the Texas legislature to pass laws this session that promote energy efficiency, promote renewable energy, and force coal permitting to slow back down—including a proposed two-year coal permitting moratorium that was recently introduced the the Texas Senate. A few days ago, Tom Smith of Public Citizen's Texas office told me that one of TXU's cardinal sins—one of its actions that helped generate so much public opposition to its plans—was trying to "sneak in under whatever emisisons legislation might be passed this session." A cardinal sin, maybe, but also a Texas political tradition (see the Alcoa story, above). David Hawkins of NRDC would perhaps say that cleaning up their act in the first place is the smartest and most just way that TXU could "sneak in" past pending legislation. Said Hawkins, once the session is over and emissions legislation is passed, "companies that have already reduced their emissions of greenhouse gases will automatically be rewarded because they'll have less work to do." Labels: carbon, coal, electricity, energy, global warming, TXU Please consider donating to Dollars & Sense and/or subscribing to the magazine (both print and e-subscriptions now available!). |
