South Carolina says ‘no’ to coal plant

Facing a barrage of environmental concerns, a South Carolina utility has abandoned plans for a new coal-fired power plant.  The board of directors of Santee Cooper, a state-owned utility, voted unanimously on Monday to suspend the project, effectively killing it.  According to The State newspaper, the plant drew “intense opposition from environmentalists over the amount of mercury and greenhouse gas pollution the facility would release.”  There were other factors in addition to the pressure from environmental groups, with the paper citing the down economy and also the “looming federal regulation of carbon.”

So is this a victory from a sustainability point-of-view?  The decision means there will be one less coal plant than was on the books, and that’s reason for celebration in terms of the environment and carbon emissions, and signals that maybe the playing field is shifting.  But what about the fact that cities still need electricity?  The decision didn’t lead to new energy efficiency measures.  It didn’t lead to new plans for renewable sources.  Instead, it led to ongoing negotiations with neighboring Duke Energy to supply the additional megawatts needed.  So the overall outcome is not as clear, and points to the fact that we still need a national discussion on the future of energy – a difficult, complicated and sometimes emotional issue.

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