Opinion

C-J Editorials

Coal-burning issue
July 28, 2009

If global warming is the issue, it seems silly to fret and fume about East Kentucky Power Cooperative's plan for one new $766-million coal-fired electric generating plant on the Kentucky River in Clark County. After all, in the next decade China will bring on line about 1,000 average-sized coal-fired power stations.

Coal is fueling the Asian economic giant's awesome expansion. China now uses more coal than the United States, Europe and Japan combined, making it the world's largest emitter of polluting gases.

But as The New York Times reports, in the past two years China also has become the world's leading builder of more efficient, less polluting plants, mastering the technology and driving down cost: “While the United States is still debating whether to build a more efficient kind of coal-fired power plant that uses extremely hot steam, China has begun building such plants at a rate of one a month.”

And, the green revolution has reached there too. China has doubled its total wind capacity in each of the past four years and very soon will pass the United States as the largest market for wind power equipment. “China is building considerably more nuclear power plants than the rest of the world combined,” the Times notes, “and these do not emit carbon dioxide after they are built.”

That's what critics want East Kentucky Power to do — take seriously all the available options for increasing its generating capacity, without burning more coal. Environmental groups argue for investment in wind, solar and hydropower. David Eichenthal, president of the Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies, said that would create, over a three-year period, more than 8,750 new jobs for the region, and more than $1.7 billion in regional economic activity.

EKPC falls back on the usual rationale: A new coal-fired plant is the most affordable and reliable choice. That's a rationale Gov. Steve Beshear is unlikely to challenge. While progressive in many ways, he remains committed to a conventional view of Kentucky's energy future. He encourages improved energy efficiency at home and in the workplace, and exploitation of renewable energy sources, but he's really all about coal. His plan relies mainly on the development of clean coal and carbon sequestration technologies, and on a hope, entirely unjustified by history, that the coal industry can be encouraged to mine responsibly.

Don't expect the Governor to put any pressure on East Kentucky Power for a real public debate over its plans. He is more concerned about mining votes in the coalfields.