in The Durango Herald
[Article Last Updated; Thursday, December 10, 2009 12:32PM]
The proponents of the Desert Rock Energy Project are nothing if not persistent.
However painful though, learning when to take a hint is an important life lesson for anyone, and Sithe Global is no exception. It is time to walk away from the proposed 1,500-megawatt coal-fired power plant near Shiprock.
The signs have been growing increasingly ominous for Desert Rock's chances at approval. Beginning with a partial remand of its air permit, then a full remand by the Environmental Protection Agency, the project has had a difficult year in its journey through the regulatory process. This challenge should not evoke sympathy, though. That Sithe and its partners had made it as far as they had was more a function of the political climate than the validity of the process.
The science was shoddy or incomplete, and the premise was fundamentally flawed: We simply do not need - nor do we want - a brand-new coal-fired power plant to be built within spitting distance from two of the nation's dirtiest existing facilities. This sentiment is true no matter how the project's proponents attempt to sugarcoat what they propose. Their latest attempt similarly fell flat.
Until the air permit was remanded in September, Desert Rock's proponents had long claimed their project was not a viable one for using carbon-capture or carbon-sequestration technology - methods intended to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions associated with burning coal and other fossil fuels. After the air permit was revoked, though, the idea suddenly sounded good, and developers applied for $450 million in stimulus money to fund the pollution controls at the facility. The ploy was too little, too late, and the Department of Energy saw it for what it was: The request was denied.
There may be merit to carbon-capture/carbon-sequestration technology, but the problem goes deeper than that. In order to meaningfully address the climate change that carbon dioxide emissions contribute to, there must be a wholesale shift away from creating those emissions in the first place. That is the direction Desert Rock proponents - including those on the Navajo Nation who support the project - should look. There is every incentive in the world to transform Desert Rock from a polluting contributor to poor regional air quality, diminished public health and global climate change into a cutting-edge demonstration project of renewable-energy technology.
Attempting an end-run around the science - once again - by trying for stimulus money for carbon capture/sequestration technology without first conducting the proper studies suggests desperation from Desert Rock proponents. That the effort was dismissed should be a sign taken to heart.
The political winds - and those of public opinion - are blowing coal-fired power plants off the drawing board. It is time those touting the projects get the message and invest their energy elsewhere.
There is much good that can come from such efforts. The same cannot be said for continued attempts at winning approval for a project whose negative implications for many far outweigh the benefits to be enjoyed by the few who stand to profit.
meg@sanjuancitizens.org Megan Graham is director of the San Juan
Citizens Alliance.