I'm blogging from the final hearing of the Department of Environmental Quality on the proposed Wise County Power Plant. After 2 hours of testimony, almost 40 people have testified, most against the plant - except those employed by Dominion or with a vested interest.
Speakers addressed a variety of concerns - mercury, sulfur, nitrogen, mountaintop removal coal-mining. I spoke only to one major issue, addressed to Governor Kaine – we cannot build this plant and meet Governor Kaine’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas pollution at the same time.
1 This plant will be a huge emitter of carbon dioxide, with annual emissions around 5.4 million tons of CO2, which the Richmond Times Dispatch says will make it one of the largest polluters in the state.
2 There is no existing technology employed with this plant to reduce carbon dioxide. Dominions only plans for “carbon sequestration” is to set aside a few acres of land just in case sequestration is invented some day.
3 Governor Kaine has set a goal of reducing CO2 30% by 2025, and created a climate commission in order to achieve this. With an estimated 5.4 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, the Wise County Power Plant would comprise almost 8% of 2005 emissions of the electricity sector (the largest sector, comprising 36% of total emissions).
If Governor Kaine is really serious about reaching his climate goal, he needs to intervene on this process and delay permitting of the Wise County Power Plant until he receives recommendations from the climate commission. Otherwise, he is stacking the deck against his own goal.