A presentation about the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign in CA.

1. THE
DIRTY TRUTH
ABOUT COAL:
Why Yesterday’s Technology Should Not Be
Part of Tomorrow’s Energy Future
For more information:
www.Sierraclub.org/coal/ca

2. A WAKE UP CALL
“Coal is not only the largest fossil fuel reservoir
of carbon dioxide, it is the dirtiest fuel. Coal is
polluting the world's oceans and streams with
mercury, arsenic and other dangerous
chemicals. Our planet is in peril. If we do not
change course, we'll hand our children a
situation that is out of their control.”
James Hanson director of Nasa's Goddard
Institute for Space Studies in New York.

3. Silver Bullet: Beyond Coal

4. U.S. Coal Rush: Circa 2005
• 150 proposed coal plants
1 billion tons of new annual CO2 emissions
$150-200 billion
• Existing coal plants
Emit 2 billion tons of annual CO2 emissions (out of 6 billion
economy wide)
• Eliminate market for clean energy

5. Coal Will Swamp Other Efforts
One megawatt of a coal plant = 6,500 tons of CO2 every year
1. California Cars: Cut CO2 emissions in new cars by 25% and SUVs by 18% starting in
2009. If every car & SUV sold in California in 2009 met this standard...
CO2 emissions savings would be offset by one small (350MW) coal plant.
2. Campus Climate Challenge: All college campuses in the U.S. to reduce their CO2
emissions to zero.
CO2 emissions savings would be offset by four medium (500MW) coal plants.
3. RGGI: Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a cooperative effort by 11 NE states
to reduce their CO2 emissions to 1990 levels by 2014.
CO2 emissions savings would be offset by 14 medium (500MW) coal plants.

6. Move Beyond Coal
What we’ve accomplished:
• We have already stopped or
stalled 123 plants
Strategy going forward:
• Help block proposed new plants
• Retire existing plants
• End mountaintop removal
• Create healthy economies
through just transitions

7. When considering if coal should be a part
of our energy future we need to consider:
• If it can be mined responsibly
• If it can be burned cleanly
• If it does not worsen climate
change
Right now, coal meets of these tests.

8. Mountain Top Removal
Toxic Coal Slurry

9. “THE TRUE COST OF COAL”
CHEAP IF YOU IGNORE SOCIETAL COSTS
Coal in the Southwest is relatively
abundant and “societal” costs have,
historically, been ignored and given
coal an advantage.
When costs are factored in, coal
becomes non-competitive, especially
in a region like the Southwest, which is
abundant in renewable energy
resources

10. CALIFORNIA’S SHARE OF WESTERN COAL
"The Dineh (otherwise known as Navajo) were stripped of all land title and
forced to relocate. Their land was turned over to the coal companies
without making any provisions to protect the burial or sacred sites that
would be destroyed by the mines. People whose lives were based in their
deep spiritual and life-giving relationship with the land were relocated into
cities, often without compensation, forbidden to return to the land that their
families had occupied for generations. People became homeless with
significant increases in alcoholism, suicide, family break up, emotional
abuse and death. "
-- Marsha Monestersky for the UN Commission on Human Rights and
Women Enacting Change at the UN

11. Where does the Coal come from?
BLACK MESA COAL
“Our water has reached
irreversible damage, families
face devastating impacts,” said
Nicole Horseherder, Navajo
citizen and Black Mesa
resident.
•Strip mining began at the Navajo Mine in 1963
•The second mine on Black Mesa was the Kayenta
Mine, supplying the Navajo Generating Station
• Mines and plants generated employment, a
common complaint on the reservation was that
Navajos and Hopis were filling few of the higher-
paying jobs.
• On Black Mesa, 80 percent of Navajo people still
lack running water, and 50 percent of people on the
Navajo and Hopi reservations lack electricity, a huge
irony given the massive transmission lines overhead
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2009/black
-mesa-01-22-2009.html

12. CALIFORNIA’S SHARE IN WESTERN COAL PLANTS – Navajo Generating Station
B URNING
• Page, Arizona
•19.9 million tons of
global-warming carbon
dioxide ~ 3.2 million cars
THE FUTURE
•5th largest power plant
emitter of carbon dioxide
•3rd largest emitter of
nitrogen oxides (smog
causing particulate)
• 8 million tons of coal p/y
• 25,000 tons of coal per
day
• 9.1 Billion Gallons of
Water

13. CALIFORNIA’S SHARE IN WESTERN COAL PLANTS – Intermountain Power Plant
INTERMOUNTAIN POWER PROJECT
•Delta, Utah
•14.5 million tons of global-warming
carbon dioxide
•28,720 tons per year of Nitrous
Oxide
•3,520 tons per year of Sulfur Dioxide
•260 lbs of Arsenic per year
• 140 lbs of lead per year
• 260 lbs of chromium per year
• 220 lbs of Mercury per year
• 1.9 grams of Dioxin per year
•Anaheim’s share of IPP = 13.225%
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19779889@N00/4052563745/

14. CALIFORNIA’S SHARE IN WESTERN COAL PLANTS – San Juan Generating Station
ANAHEIM POWERED BY COAL
•San Juan Generating Station
• Waterflow, NM
•Sulfur Dioxide 10,600 tons per year
•8 million tons of carbon dioxide
•17,200 tons of Nitrous Oxide per year
•Arsenic 150 lbs per year
•Lead 140 lbs per year
•Chromium 220 lbs per year
•Mercury 640 lbs per year
•Dioxin 1.0 lbs per year
•Anaheim’s share of San Juan = 10%
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40731790@N04/3746946393/

15. CALIFORNIA’S SHARE OF WESTERN COAL PLANTS
POLLUTING THE SOUTHWEST
• SO2 emitted from California’s share of western coal-fired electricity exceeds the total amount
of SO2 emitted from all sources in California
• The amount of NOx emitted from California’s share of western coal is more than ten times
the total amount of NOx emitted from all electric utilities in California and is almost as great as
the amount of NOx emitted from all on-road motor vehicles in Los Angeles County
• California’s share of the mercury produced from western coal plants is more than 200 times
the total amount emitted from all power plants within the state of California
http://www.ceert.org/PDFs/reports/Coalreport.pdf

16. WHO ARE DIRECTLY AFFECTED
BLACK MESA – KAYENTA MINE
Health
•U.S. Geological Survey “People living in
the Shiprock area more than five times as
likely to experience respiratory
complaints”
• The American Lung Association
estimated that sixteen thousand people in
the region (15 percent of the population) http://www.dinecare.org/pages/carlantapp.html
suffer from lung disease probably caused
by plant emissions. Damage to Water Supplies
•Between 1969 and 2005 Peabody’s pumping
resulted in significant damage to community
water supplies with depleted wells and
decreased surface flows in area springs and
creeks upon which residents and wildlife
depend.
•150 million tons of coal combustion waste
(containing cadmium, selenium, arsenic, and
lead) has been dumped in the Navajo and San
http://www.dinecare.org/pages/carlantapp.html
Juan mines threatening aquifers.

17. HOW WE ARE ALL AFFECTED
Mercury
Mercury is one of several toxic air pollutants
released into the air by coal-fired power plants.
It enters the water cycle and accumulates in fish.

18. HOW WE ARE ALL AFFECTED
Public Health Dangers Public Health Dangers
• Triggers heart attacks & • Like a sunburn in the lungs
strokes • Increases risk of asthma
• Increases risk of asthma • Shortness of breath
• Irregular heartbeat • Permanent lung damage
• Premature death • Premature death
Environment Environment
• Depletes soil nutrients • Destroys ecosystems
• Destroys forests and crops • Weakens plant and tree
• Acidification of waters growth, making them
vulnerable to disease,
insects, and extreme
weather
• Reduces crop productivity

19. “Our planet is in peril. If we do not change course, we'll hand our children a
situation that is out of their control.”
SOLUTIONS
WE HAVE SOLUTIONS, WE CAN REBUILD AND INVEST IN THE FUTURE!
Geothermal
Wind Power
“We can be the Saudi Arabia of sun”

20. Energy Efficiency
ENERGY EFFICIENCY WILL CREATE LOCAL JOBS
Beyond wind, solar, and geothermal power, a way of supplying
energy needs existed that was even more competitive and
plentiful: efficiency and conservation measures.

21. Create Clean Energy Careers Now!
• We can create economic prosperity
• Reduce our dependence on foreign oil and coal,
and tackle global warming and pollution
• Creating a strong grassroots base willing to take
on the millions Big Oil and Coal spend on lobbying
Washington in order to create healthy and just communities.

22. TAKE ACTION
TAKING IT TO OUR COMMUNITIES
We will work with communities in the Southwest to protect our
mountains, lands and waters by keeping coal reserves in the ground.
We will:
1. Educate our communities about the “true costs of coal”
2. Educate policy-makers about the types of energy we want the
utility to invest in for our future.
3. Work with the communities affected by our pollution and
support their work to clean up the Southwest
Decision-makers Join us!

23. WE HAVE A VOICE
1. Stop the construction of dirty, new coal
plants by educating investors and decision
makers about the economic and
environmental risks of investing in new
coal
2. Retire old plants that are the worst
contributors to health-harming soot and
smog pollution and replace them with
clean energy solutions
3. Work with communities to protect our
mountains, lands and waters by keeping
our vast coal reserves in the ground.
Implement AB32 and the expanded
Renewable Portfolio Standards so that:
1) economic benefits flow to California’s
workers and businesses
2) related workforce training programs
benefit from adequate funding for state-
of-the art equipment and proper design
of new processes and systems.

24. “If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late. What we do in
the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the
defining moment.”
Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman,
United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
November 17, 2007