Why the Sierra Club’s actions are appalling

When Sierra Club's chief climate counsel David Bookbinder said “we hope to clog up the system” last year (as quoted in the Los Angeles Times), I was saddened by what I saw as such a blatant misuse of our nation’s legal system, given that the strategy was only being used to delay energy projects that had already been thoroughly vetted and properly permitted by state regulatory agencies.

Having just returned from Southwest Arkansas where I met men and women proud of their jobs building a state-of-the-art coal plant that meets and exceeds every environmental standard set forth by state regulations, I am even more than appalled at what I see as a miscarriage of justice.

The John W. Turk Power Plant and other new coal plants under construction represent a path forward on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the utility sector. Turk’s advanced design provided increased efficiencies (more miles to the gallon, if you will), meaning more energy output with fewer CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the plant was designed with an eye toward incorporating carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology when that technology is commercially-viable —something that AEP is promoting with their demonstration of CCS at the Mountaineer Power Plant in West Virginia. It will only be through technology innovations like those represented by the Turk plant that will ensure that the U.S. and the world has the necessary technology to meet the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and still maintain access to affordable, reliable energy.

In the near-term, the Sierra Club’s decision to “clog up the system” will put 700 people out of work.

One local business leader pointed out to me that opposition to new coal plants is often organized and pursued by people who live well outside the communities in which the plants are located. I doubt that those who brought this suit have considered the human cost associated with — I hope — a temporary delay in this project.

I urge the representatives of the Sierra Club, which believes that no coal plant could meet an acceptable standard that they would support, to go to Southwest Arkansas and look that community in eye and explain how their actions promote a sustainable climate policy that will meet our nation’s energy, environmental and economic needs.