Where's Culver on Coal?

I went out for dinner tonight and at the restaurant, I talked with someone who attended a meeting of a group of citizens in Marshalltown last night. The group met to share concerns over the proposed coal-fired power plant. The group began to formulate questions and share information about the effects of the coal plant on their health, their property values, their jobs, and their quality of life.

When I got home, I had this email in my inbox from Ed Fallon...

Yesterday, a group of leading Iowa environmentalists met with Chet Culver’s staff to ask the Governor to help stop a proposed coal-fired plant in Waterloo. This request should be an easy one for the Governor, especially given a statement he made two months ago when he signed legislation establishing the Climate Change Advisory Council:

"Global warming is a real danger that threatens our very way of life, and it is our responsibility to take any and all steps that we can to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and hope to curb global warming." (Governor Culver, April 27, 2007)

Well, any and all steps should certainly include opposition to new coal-fired power plants. In Waterloo, a New Jersey company has proposed a 750-megawatt plant. Couple that with the 600-megawatt plant proposed for Marshalltown and carbon emissions in Iowa will increase by the equivalent of two million cars per year, not to mention the mercury that will end up in eastern Iowa’s streams and rivers.

For many years, scientists, environmentalists and forward-thinking policymakers have known that burning coal pollutes our air and water and is a serious threat to human health. The evidence is now conclusive that coal is also a major contributor to global warming. And despite what some industrial apologists want us to believe, there is no such thing as clean coal (Union of Concerned Scientists website: www.ucsusa.org).

The political mainstream is starting to wake up. Most Democratic presidential candidates are speaking out. Some agree with the scientific community on the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050. Some speak about energy conservation and efficiency, and at least one has spoken out specifically against burning coal.

Culver has yet to weigh-in on new coal-fired power plants. The renewable-fuels focus of his Iowa Power Fund would suggest opposition to burning more coal. Furthermore, he should consider the obvious economic advantages of investing in small- and medium-sized Iowa-owned businesses, as opposed to a couple of huge power plants that ship both power and profit out of state.

Rank-and-file Iowans are contacting the Governor. More of us need to do that. Write, call, e-mail or bring it up at one of the Governor’s public appearances (I’ll make a commitment to doing all four). Ask him to speak out against new coal-fired power plants and to tell the Iowa Utilities Board that coal does not fit in with his administration’s stated commitment to renewable energy.

Write: Governor Chet Culver
Iowa State Capitol
Des Moines, Iowa 50319
Call: (515) 281-5211
E-mail: http://www.governor.iowa.gov/administration/contact/

Track him down: We don’t have a lot of detail on the Governor’s schedule. You might look for him at parades and county fairs. According to his website, here’s where he’ll be hosting Wellness Town Hall Meetings over the next two months. (It would certainly be appropriate to ask how new coal plants will affect public health!)

• Fort Dodge Tuesday, July 10th
• Burlington Wednesday, July 11th
• Quad Cities Thursday, July 12th
• Sioux City Tuesday, July 17th
• Newton Wednesday, July 18th
• Mason City Thursday, July 19th
• Oskaloosa Tuesday, July 24th
• Cass County Wednesday, July 25th
• Cedar Rapids Monday, August 6th
• Waterloo Tuesday, August 7th

Thanks for doing your part for our environment, our economy and our democracy!

Sincerely,
Ed Fallon