Source  – robertfkennedyjr.com

–  Colorado is now claiming national leadership in American’s transition to a new energy economy. Gov. Bill Ritter has quietly built a strong coalition including Colorado’s largest utility, Xcel Energy, to support the proposed Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act.

The proposal would require Colorado utilities to significantly reduce pollutants by retiring, retrofitting, or repowering Front Range coal-fired power plants by the end of 2017, and replace them with facilities fueled by natural gas and other lower- or non-emitting energy sources. While King Coal and its toadies continue to loudly protest, the proposal is moving to the legislature with bipartisan support focused on health, job creation, and environmental sustainability for Colorado.

Whatever the slick campaigns financed by the powerful coal barons might claim, coal is neither cheap nor clean. Ozone and particulates from coal plants kill tens of thousands of Americans each year and cause widespread illnesses and disease. Acid rain has destroyed millions of acres of valuable forests and sterilized one in five Adirondack lakes. Neurotoxic mercury raining from these plants has contaminated fish in every state and poisons more than 1 million American women and children annually. Coal industry strip mines have already destroyed 500 mountains in Appalachia, buried 2,000 miles of rivers and streams, and will soon have flattened an area the size of Delaware.

Finally, coal, which supplies 46 percent of our electric power, is the most important source of America’s greenhouse gases. Colorado’s forward-looking proposal would reduce nitrogen oxide emissions at coal plants by more than 80 percent over the next eight years, if not sooner.

Colorado is boldly showing America that our nation’s cornucopia of renewables and the recent maturation of solar, geothermal and wind technologies will allow us to meet most of our energy needs with clean, cheap, green power. In the short term, natural gas, abundant in the Rocky Mountain state, is an obvious bridge fuel to the “new” energy economy. Indeed, many large-scale wind, solar and distributed energy projects rely on natural gas to provide stable “base loads.”

By following the simple example set by Colorado, Americans could eliminate three-quarters of her coal-burning generators and save a fortune in energy costs. The benefits to other states would be even greater. Around 920 U.S. coal plants — 78 percent of the total — are small (generating less than half a gigawatt), antiquated and horrendously inefficient. Their average age is 45 years, with many over 75. They tend to be located amid dense populations and in poor neighborhoods, to lethal effect.

These ancient plants burn 20 percent more coal per megawatt hour than modern large coal units and are 60 to 75 percent less fuel-efficient than combined cycle gas plants. They account for only 21 percent of America’s electric power but almost half the sector’s emissions. Properly assessed, the costs of operation, maintenance, capital improvements and repair of these antiquated facilities make them far more expensive to run than natural gas plants.

To quickly gain further economic and environmental advantages, the larger, newer coal plants that remain in operation should be required to co-fire with natural gas. Many of these plants are already connected to gas pipelines and can easily be adapted to burn gas as 15 to 20 percent of their fuel. Such co-firing dramatically reduces forced outages and maintenance costs and can be the most cost effective way to reduce CO2 emissions.

Natural gas comes with its own set of environmental caveats. It is a carbon-based fuel and its extraction from shale, the most significant new source, if not managed carefully, can have serious water, land use and wildlife impacts, especially in the hands of irresponsible producers and lax regulators. But those impacts can be mitigated by careful regulation and are dwarfed by the disaster of coal.

Kudos to Xcel, Gov. Ritter, Colorado’s natural gas producers and environmental leaders for pioneering the road to a clean, robust and independent energy economy. All of American should follow its lead

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal actions. Mr. Kennedy was named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” for his success helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. The group’s achievement helped spawn more than 130 Waterkeeper organizations across the globe.

Mr. Kennedy serves as Chief Prosecuting Attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and President of Waterkeeper Alliance. He is also a Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney at Pace University School of Law’s Environmental Litigation Clinic and is co-host of Ring of Fire on Air America Radio. Earlier in his career he served as Assistant District Attorney in New York City. He has worked on several political campaigns including the presidential campaigns of Edward M. Kennedy in 1980, Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004.

He has worked on environmental issues across the Americas and has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in successfully negotiating treaties protecting traditional homelands. He is credited with leading the fight to protect New York City’s water supply. The New York City watershed agreement, which he negotiated on behalf of environmentalists and New York City watershed consumers, is regarded as an international model in stakeholder consensus negotiations and sustainable development. He helped lead the fight to turn back the anti-environmental legislation during the 104th Congress.

Among Mr. Kennedy’s published books are the New York Times’ bestseller Crimes Against Nature (2004), St. Francis of Assisi: A Life of Joy (2005), The Riverkeepers (1997), and Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr: A Biography (1977). His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, The Nation, Outside Magazine, The Village Voice, and many other publications. His award winning articles have been included in anthologies of America’s Best Crime Writing, Best Political Writing and Best Science Writing.

Mr. Kennedy is a graduate of Harvard University. He studied at the London School of Economics and received his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School. Following graduation he attended Pace University School of Law, where he was awarded a Masters Degree in Environmental Law.

He is a licensed master falconer, and as often as possible he pursues a life-long enthusiasm for white-water paddling. He has organized and led several expeditions in Canada and Latin America, including first descents on three little known rivers in Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is president of the environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance.
http://robertfkennedyjr.com/#

The Denver Post
March 25, 2010