Sunday, February 25, 2007

Progressive Utility Policy - - in Texas?

While Wisconsin utilities forge ahead with new coal-fired power plants, Texas utilities and private investors have worked with environmental groups to drastically reduce the number of new coal-burning plants planned for the Lone Star state, according to The New York Times .

The agreement will also boost other so-called green utility programs, too.

Don't you hate it when Texas appears to be more forward-thinking than the Badger State?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

NRDC and Environmental Defense deserve lots of credit for their great advocacy work in TX and elsewhere in the country to prevent the construction of conventional coal fired power plants. Their legal, technical and advocacy work is expensive and requires an educated and comprehensive perspective to be a credible opponent.

However, this plan is hardly progressive; unfortunately three large coal plants remain in the Texas plan, and, if built, those plants could have a huge impact on TX's contribution to global warming.

Nobody in their right mind thought TXU would get 11 new coal plants, even with a friendly Bush administration. I hope to see NRDC and ED continue their effort to oppose the remaining three plants if the plans call for more conventional coal with no plan for capture of C02.

James Rowen said...

Well, three is better than 11. Three is better than the five or six that actually might have gotten built. I think it is progressive because it is progress. Not perfect, but a good step, as I see it. But thanks for the comment.