Anyone who has ever visited the southwestern state of New Mexico understands why the state's nickname is "The Land of Enchantment". From the
vast grasslands in the south, to the Rio Grande Gorge and Sangre de Cristo Mountains
in the north, it is a land of incredible beauty and wildlife, unique ecosystems, and cultural diversity.
And, like many southwestern states, NM has its share of coal mines, particularly in the northwestern ("Four Corners") region. The photo to the left is the Navajo Mine. The grey "mountains" are 50 million tons of toxic coal combustion waste (CCW) from two nearby coal-fired power plants, which have helped put San Juan County at number 6 on a recent "top 20 worst counties for carbon dioxide emissions" list.
Worse yet, there are plans to build yet another coal-fired
power plant. And, of course, the "clean coal" gang has stepped in to reassure everyone that the new plant will "be the cleanest coal plant in the United States".
From its inception, the Desert Rock Power Plant proposal has been fraught with controversy. The San Juan Citizens Alliance provides a useful summary of the battle between the plant's backers (Sithe Global Power and Dine Power Authority), the EPA, and local citizens. Sithe and DPA claim that the EPA is delaying its air permit unnecessarily, while at the same time air quality continues to deteriorate from the two plants already operating in the area.
New Mexico's governor, Bill Richardson, even issued a statement saying that the EPA should delay issuing the permit, to which the spokesman for Sithe replied:
... that Desert Rock ``will be the cleanest coal plant in the United States with the most strict air permit ever.''
And how would this be accomplished? The regional ACCCE spokesperson moseyed his way into Durango, Colorado last week to talk about it:
Brad S. Jones, regional communications director for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, said wind and other renewable sources should play a part in meeting Americans' electricity needs. But coal is needed to provide reliable power.
[...]
Environmental groups have raised concerns about the plant's emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas that has been linked to global warming. Desert Rock would emit an estimated 12.7 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. A car would have to burn 1.3 billion gallons of gas to reach the same level of emissions.
Jones said the coal industry is working to tackle carbon-dioxide emissions - with the help of technology.
"The technology is there," Jones said. "What's missing is incentives and funding to make it commercially viable."
Companies are experimenting with injecting carbon dioxide into saline aquifers and underground coal seams, Jones said.
Shorter translation: burn coal. We'll give you an excuse.
The Durango Herald followed up a few days later with an article about that excuse:
This month researchers will begin pumping carbon dioxide deep into the ground in a test that could yield a valuable new method for keeping the greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere while also increasing methane production.
The Pump Canyon test pilot, located near Navajo Dam in New Mexico, is part of nationwide, public-private push to advance a technology known as carbon sequestration, which aims to lock the gas away where it can't contribute to global warming...
If the results from the test are positive, the San Juan Basin, which stretches into Southwest Colorado, could be among the first places in the world where the process is put into widespread use.
The article goes on to discuss carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), including its role in the Desert Rock saga:
Frank Maisano, spokesman for the Desert Rock project, said the technology could eventually be integrated into the proposed plant.
"They're building the project so that it can be retrofitted for carbon-sequestration technologies should they become affordable and available," he said.
Academics and DOE experts don't expect that to happen for another 10 years or more.
"Right now, it does look rather far off," Maisano said.
Obviously, Maisano and Sithe aren't concerned about the carbon emissions from the new plant; as for their claim that it will be the "cleanest coal plant in the United States", apparently they're forgetting about all of the mercury, selenium, and other pollutants it would be pumping out.
Finally, Sithe has said very little about CCW:
"We believe it will be put to beneficial use," says Tom Johns, a vice president with Sithe Global, the company developing Desert Rock. Indeed, some of the flyash could end up serving as a substitute for cement or as road grade. But markets for such products aren’t that abundant, and currently less than 40 percent of the nation’s CCWs are recycled.
Meanwhile, every pound of pollutants taken out of the air to make this plant "clean" must go somewhere. "Basically, the words ’clean coal technology’ are an oxymoron," says Stant [of the Clean Air Task Force Power Plant Waste Program]. "There’s no such thing as that. Matter doesn’t disappear."
Instead, that matter - along with the mercury and the other unpleasant leftovers - ends up buried or piled up out in the desert.
Which brings us back to the Navajo Mine, because that's where the CCW from the Desert Rock Power Plant will most likely end up.
Regardless of how complex some aspects of the Desert Rock issue might be, the underlying issue is simple: it's dirty, dirty coal power, and those who are telling the people of New Mexico or southern Colorado otherwise are fooling only themselves.
Note: I originally posted this at Coal Is Dirty.com last week. New Mexico has four separate races this year (three Congressional districts and a Senate race), and was very "purple" in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections; I figured a little background on a huge environmental issue (and the energy scene) here in this amazing state might be of interest to a few folks here at Daily Kos.