By Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-567721.mp3
Waco, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter:
Nearly a thousand people filled the Waco convention center to hear Dallas Mayor Laura Miller speak for the Texas Cities for Clean Air Coalition & demand cleaner burning power plants. Waco was chosen because it would be surrounded by the proposed plants. As a result, the Coalition says its air quality could be downgraded by the EPA. Coal plants, said Miller, unleash dangerous carbon dioxide, mercury, nitrous oxide and other pollutants in a state that already leads the nation in carbon dioxide production. She said the coalition wants the cleanest plants possible, but that's not in TXU's plan. She wants older plants cleaned, but TXU's only made partial commitments to do that.
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller: If TXU won't give us the cleanest plants today, it shouldn't be allowed to give us any plants tomorrow.
Zeeble: Miller was just warming up, presenting facts the coalition had gathered for presentation at this mornings hearings in Austin. When she broke the news about the judge over-ruling the governor's fast track order, the crowd stood.
Crowd: Whhhooo!!!
Zeeble: TXU expressed its disappointment, saying permit delays just put off new, cleaner power generation. A statement from the governor's office said No one should be surprised that a single liberal Austin judge would rule against Gov. Perry and his efforts to increase energy capacity in Texas. But in Waco, the Coalition's pro-bono attorney Steve Sussman wasn't buying the comments. A legendary and successful Texas lawyer, he took the case because he believes climate change is man's greatest threat. He said TXU's claim that Texas faces an imminent energy shortage is false, according the Public Utility Commission. He also said the unprecedented fast-track coal plant proposals aren't about providing affordable energy, but about quashing competitors.
Steve Sussman, Coalition Attorney: If they announced a build plan so large and got them permitted, then no competitor (certainly those capable of building cleaner) would venture to come forward and enter Texas market. That's what the whole thing was about.
Zeeble: What's more, Sussman said he could prove TXU expects eventual federal regulation of carbon dioxide. So if it builds its plants putting out more CO2, it could see hundreds of millions of dollars in bankable carbon dioxide credits. TXU denies such allegations, but does acknowledge the legal, business use of trading emission credits which have helped clean air at reduced costs. As for the opponents' victory to slow the fast track process, Margaret Rands wasn't sure how long it would last. She's with East Texas Environmental Concerns , & was a plaintiff in the case.
Margret Rands, East Texas Environmental Concerns: We have a lot left to do because TXU has great resources and the governor's on their side they've got to lot of money. It's hard.
Zeeble: All sides will wait to see how hard this morning in Austin, as the fast-track hearings begin. For KERA 90.1 I'm Bill Zeeble