Coalfields Turn Into Battlefields

Push for New Plants
Divides Democrats
In Rural, City Areas
Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-na-coalwars14apr14,1,2805749.story

By STEPHEN POWER in Wise, Virginia, and NICK TIMIRAOS in Levittown, Pa.
April 14, 2008; Wall Street Journal, Page A6

The race for the Democratic nomination hinges on a handful of states
where coal is still king. That puts Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack
Obama in a bind: how to attack global warming without threatening an
industry that provides half the U.S.'s electricity and more than 80,000
mining jobs.

Campaigning in the Pennsylvania presidential primary this month,
Senators Clinton and Obama are championing technology to capture and
store carbon-dioxide emissions from coal -- while vowing to invest in
renewable energies such as wind and solar power.

BURNING ISSUE

The News: The Democratic race is shifting to states that depend heavily
on coal, putting Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in a bind as they try
to appeal to green audiences.

The Backdrop: Coal producers and their allies are spending heavily to
bolster public support for coal.

The Politics: In some states, efforts to build coal-fired plants are
pitting Democrats in rural areas against city and suburban dwellers
worried about climate change and air pollution.

"Coal is going to remain a major player in American energy," Senator
Clinton told the Pittsburgh Business Times last month.

"We are the Saudi Arabia of coal, and it could be a very important way
for us to meet our long-term energy needs," Senator Obama told voters
Wednesday in Levittown, Pa.

The candidates' comments reflect a broader challenge for Democrats, as
efforts to build coal-fired plants pit Democrats in struggling rural
areas against city and suburban dwellers worried about climate change.

In Kansas, rural Democratic lawmakers joined Republicans in opposition
to Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius's decision to reject two new
coal-fired plants that would have brought $3.6 billion in investment to
the state. In New Mexico, Navajo leaders are sparring with Gov. Bill
Richardson, who opposes their effort to build a coal-fired plant to
bring jobs to the Navajo reservation. Both governors said the projects
would contribute to global warming.

In Virginia, Democrats at opposite ends of the state are clashing over a
$1.8 billion coal-fired power plant proposed for the state's
impoverished southwest corner. Governor Tim Kaine backs the plant even
as he vows to cut greenhouse gas emissions -- a stance that has
confounded many supporters in the state's affluent northern suburbs.

"There's no way to power the needs of our commonwealth or our nation
without using our coal resources," Gov. Kaine said.

These state-level skirmishes are forerunners of the debate taking shape
in Washington over how to address global warming. Democratic
congressional leaders -- and all three remaining Democratic and
Republican presidential candidates -- advocate the creation of a
"cap-and-trade" system that would place limits on carbon-dioxide
emissions and let companies buy or sell rights to pollute.

That support masks significant differences over how to cap emissions
without hurting industries that rely heavily on coal. Democrats from
rural states that rely on coal for electricity support legislation that
would allocate some emissions credits for free to utilities and other
large carbon-dioxide emitters.

Other Democrats, including Senators Obama and Clinton, say all pollution
credits should be auctioned, to ensure that companies don't obtain
windfall profits. Some, such as Reps. Henry Waxman of California and
Edward Markey of Massachusetts, want to put an immediate halt to
construction of any new coal-burning plants that lack technology to
sequester carbon dioxide emissions. Many experts say that the technology
is years from widespread commercial viability. The Energy Department
withdrew its support for a project to test such technology in January
after huge cost overruns.

Groups funded by the coal industry and its allies are spending heavily
to bolster public support for coal, and to reinforce fears that limits
on its use will raise living costs. A Virginia-based group called
Americans for Balanced Energy Choices is spending as much as $40 million
on TV ads and other outreach efforts.

In Virginia -- whose 13 electoral votes could be decisive in November --
the dilemma facing Mr. Kaine centers on efforts by Richmond's Dominion
Resources Inc. to build a 585-megawatt plant in Wise County, an
Appalachian coal-mining community where 20% of the population lives in
poverty.

Mr. Kaine has gone out of his way to promote the project. His 2007
Virginia Energy Plan, a document meant to guide state policymakers,
mentions the project 10 times. It says that Virginia "should work
together" with its coal producers "to maintain a viable mining industry
that supports the economy in southwest Virginia."

At the same time, Mr. Kaine is spearheading Virginia's push to cut its
greenhouse gas emissions 30% by 2025, an undertaking that some fear will
be undercut by the new plant. The facility would emit 5.4 million tons
of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of putting 895,000 more
automobiles on Virginia roads, by some estimates.

Some Democrats worry that the plant also will emit large quantities of
smog-forming pollutants that could drift beyond Wise. But those
complaints rankle many in Wise County. The plant would generate hundreds
of new jobs, double Wise's tax base and fund a renovation of the
county's 1950s-era high schools. In the winter, students wear coats in
class because only one of the school's three boilers still works.

Some environmentalists have questioned Mr. Kaine's motives for
supporting the proposed plant. Since 2001, Dominion has contributed more
than $230,000 to Mr. Kaine's campaign coffers, according to the Virginia
Public Access Project, a group that tracks campaign contributions in
Virginia. Mr. Kaine says Dominion's donations haven't influenced him,
adding, "I'm sure I've received as much or more from people on the other
side of this issue."