Moving Beyond Coal Campaign
For a great up-to-date list of various hot issues, we encourage you to visit the Wisconsin John Muir Chapter Sierra Club's Action page.
Moving Beyond Coal: We've had great success in the Four Lakes Area in the last several years in convincing MG&E to stop using coal at their Blount St plant by 2011, getting the UW to convert their Charter St plant to biofuels and gas, and stopping Alliant Energy's proposed Cassville coal power plant. But we still have major challenges ahead to stop using coal for any power sources, reduce greenhouse gases from other sources, utilize efficiency and conservation measures where feasible, and increase the use of clean power from solar, wind, biomass and geothermal sources.
We have a number of focus areas to join in and help clean up our environment:
- Ending the use of all coal in power plants in Wisconsin
- Implementing efficiency measures to reduce power demand
- Working with Madison, Fitchburg and Dane County on their Cool communities efforts
- Reducing vehicular greenhouse gas emissions
- Supporting a Regional Transit Authority and a multi-modal transit system
- Helping stop urban sprawl and saving green spaces
- Working to conserve water and keep it safe to drink and fish from
- Supporting the Electronics Waste and Recycling bill
- Participating in our Recycling Away from Home efforts
- Being part of an energy conservation group to show how we can save energy together
- Participating
in neighborhood sustainability programs
To Volunteer let us know.... contactus@4lakes.org
Victory
- No Cassville Coal Plant!
Tuesday, November 11
A great victory here in Wisconsin - this morning, the Public Service Commission unanimously denied the certificate of need for Alliant Energy's Cassville proposal.
Commisioner Meyer held up all of the public comments and noted that he had never seen so many in a case before the Public Service Commission. Comments against the plant outnumbered comments for the plant by a margin of more than 10 to 1.
All of
the Commissioners talked about the pressing need to reduce
global warming pollution. Two of them talked about the need
to increase our reliance on biomass, but that this project
was the wrong way to do that.
Commissioner Meyer said that in terms of CO2, this plant "is
certainly a loser." Commissioner Callisto noted that
Alliant's so-called "Carbon Reduction Plan" relied
on things they were already doing. Indeed, Commissioner Azar
described it as "smoke in mirrors," and (paraphrasing
here) said she saw no evidence that WPL had any coherent plan
whatsoever to deal with carbon.
One of the other commissioners also specifically noted staff's comments that this would be the most expensive conventional coal plant (per KW) in the country. Every single commissioner pointed to the lower costs of the alternatives and the importance of reducing carbon as two of the deciding issues of the case.
This comes
after months of hard work from all of our members and volunteers
canvassing, phone banking, writing comments and attending
hearings, and holding a great protest at Alliant's shareholder
meeting along with our friends from Iowa who are also fighting
an Alliant coal proposal.
Kudos
to the Wisconsin Sierra Club Chapter on Defeating Coal
From
the Sierra Club Scrapbook...
On Tuesday November 11th the announcement came down that the Wisconsin Public Service Commission unanimously denied the certificate of need for Alliant Energy's Cassville coal-fired power plant.
From the John Muir Chapter's clean energy director Jennifer Feyerherm:
"Commissioner Mark Meyer held up all of the public comments and noted that he had never seen so many in a case before the Public Service Commission. Comments against the plant outnumbered comments for the plant by a margin of more than 10 to 1."
Feyerherm said the commissioners all talked about the pressing need to reduce global warming pollution, saying this plant did not do that.
"One of the other commissioners also specifically noted staff's comments that this would be the most expensive conventional coal plant (per KW) in the country," said Feyerherm. "Every single commissioner pointed to the lower costs of the alternatives and the importance of reducing carbon as two of the deciding issues of the case."
Congrats to the Wisconsin chapter, as this decision came "after months of hard work from all of our members and volunteers canvassing, phone banking, writing comments and attending hearings, and holding a great protest at Alliant's shareholder meeting along with our friends from Iowa who are also fighting an Alliant coal proposal."
Learn more about the ruling in this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.
The photos are from the chapter's rally at the Alliant shareholder's meeting, and come courtesy of Jennifer Feyerherm.
Other
Great Web Resources
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