Halting a Coal-Fired Power Plant in Michigan Will Hurt Only Economy, Jobs
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If the State of Michigan was not in perhaps the worst Depression since 1929, perhaps the governor's decision to stop a major economic project could be better understood.
Some decisions, while perhaps morally right, are practically wrong.
There is a vicious battle going on nationally, and one for which we see no over-riding need to perpetuate. A silly ad is running constantly proclaiming that there is no such thing as "clean coal."
In our assessment of the situation, yes there is "clean coal." It may not be antiseptically clean, but power plants can be made to minimize harmful pollutants.
We can't stop automobiles from spewing carbon and noxious gases, that would bring transportation and our economy to a halt. And the facts are that autos, trucks and home furnaces create more carbon than all the electrical generating plants combined.
We see the economic need for jobs and investment, and tax base, as primary in the case of the proposed expansion of the Karn-Weadock plant here by Consumers Energy.
While there undoubtedly is a long term environmental benefit, there appears to be no overwhelming need to stop every puff of polluted air from being released into the atmosphere.
China is building five new coal plants every week, we are told, negating any incremental gains in air quality we might make by halting another coal plant.
And, above all, there is a desperate need for jobs and investment in Michigan's economy.
We have a sensible energy policy in Michigan that calls for a move to alternative energy sources, but those sources are still in their infancy. Most of all, we in the Tri-City area of Bay City, Saginaw and Midland, need to have a reliable, adequate source of power for job-producing industries like the Hemlock Semiconductor Plant of the Dow Corning Corp.
It is a ridiculous, unfathomable stance the governor has taken, and one that definitely is unpopular with job hungry Michiganians.
"NEW POWER PLANT DELAYED UNTIL 2017" screamed the local paper's headline recently.
Does the governor and her aides have any conception of the economic tsunami we are experiencing?
With China and India slated to build 775 new coal-fired power plants in the next eight years, the U.S. is only shooting itself in the foot by unilateral "disarmament" of power.
Atty. Gen. Mike Cox has entered the fray by declaring that Gov. Granholm doesn't have the power to unilaterally halt power plant construction.
Thank God for Mr. Cox, who again is rustling up grass roots support for a populist run for the governor's seat in 2010 on the Republican ticket.
"Governors can sign bills into law, but they cannot write them. That is the legislature's job," said Cox. "If the governor wants to pursue changes to the law, the legislature is the proper forum."
It is hard to disagree with Mr. Cox on that statement. Here Mr. Cox has ridden in on a white horse, stuck his political lance in the puffed up, overblown environmental issue, and has ridden off a big winner.
The move by the attorney general couldn't have been any more on point.
Locally the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, that is conducting a campaign to support construction of the $2.3 billion plant here, has to be pleased with Mr. Cox's advocacy.
Cox issued an opinion stating that Governor Jennifer Granholm exceeded her legal authority when she issued Executive Directive 2009-2, which attempted to create new legal requirements for the construction of coal-fired power plants in Michigan.
The opinion, #7224, was issued in response to a request from State Representatives Kevin Elsenheimer (Kewadin) and Kenneth Horn (Frankenmuth). They asked the Attorney General to rule on the governor's legal authority to impose new air permitting standards for the construction of coal-fired power plants.
Cox found that the directive attempted to impose new requirements not found in the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) or other laws, thereby exceeding the governor's legal authority. The opinion is binding on the governor and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
Granholm issued Executive Directive 2009-2 on Feb. 3. The directive would have required DEQ to deny air emissions permits under NREPA for coal-powered plants if it determined there are "feasible and prudent alternatives" to constructing coal-fired electric power plants.
The directive also would have required DEQ to make a "determination" if there is a "reasonable electricity generation need" for a proposed coal-fired plant and consider alternative methods of meeting that need before approving a permit.
In our opinion, Atty. Gen. Cox is absolutely right. The governor not only exceeded her authority, she did a great disservice to her jobless constituents and to the economic integrity of her state. And those issues are, or should be, paramount in the actions of any state leader, especially in these perilous times.###
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cas101059 Says:
On March 01, 2009
at 09:42 AM
Good job. You are right on.
The question I have for the GOV. is "Consumers will meet or exced State and Federal Regs. What else does she want them to do." I have wrote her and asked that question but apparently she is too busy to reply. |
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