I’m speaking to you from the deck of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior in Salem, Massachusetts, a town famous for burning things. Three hundred years ago it was witches, for the last 40 years it’s been coal – 2,000 tons a day, in an electric power plant owned now by Pacific Gas and Electric. Pacific Gas and Electric? In Salem, Massachusetts, on the Atlantic? That’s right, the same company that that gave rolling blackouts to California, the same company that was the villain in “Erin Brockovich.”
Part of this is about deregulation, about some of the worst regional power companies taking their tactics nationwide. Part of this is about global warming, the Kyoto Treaty and the Bush administration. George W. Bush and company are walking away from the rest of the world when it comes to carbon dioxide emissions. Much is made – and rightly so – of Mr. Bush’s connections to the oil industry, but oil is not the only fossil fuel contributing to global warming. Coal is also a primary source of CO2. Salem’s coal-burning power plant had been scheduled to burn less and less coal, switching to cleaner fuels over time. Until the election, that is. Now PG&E is talking about investing another $400 million in coal technology for Salem.
It’s 2001, global warming is real, the dreadful effects are felt every year, and with the blessing of the administration in Washington, PG&E is about to drop almost half a billion on 19th century technology for the Salem plant.
Perhaps there’s an argument to be made for coal. Maybe if we burn more coal, we’ll need to burn less oil and while carbon is carbon and burning in either form makes carbon dioxide, maybe burning coal in Salem will displace some oil and reduce our dependence on foreign sources for energy. Whenever the Bushheads can’t think of any other defense for their energy policies, they trot out the old national-security-and-lets-not depend-on-foreigners argument. It’s a nice attempt, until you learn that 1,000 of the 2,000 tons of coal burned in Salem each day comes from overseas, mostly Colombia and Venezuela.
In Salem, politics are global and local. The PG&E plant sits in a working class neighborhood and you can watch the plume blow up to Marblehead, Beverly, Danvers, Manchester and Cape Ann. Coal is the dirtiest of the fossil fuels. In addition to carbon dioxide, the Salem plant emits sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, lead, mercury, chromium, arsenic and cadmium.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, the Salem PG&E plant, by itself, is directly responsible each year for 53 premature deaths, 43 heart and/or respiratory hospital admissions, 14,000 asthma attacks and $350 million in health care costs. Year in and year out. And Salem is only one of 500 such plants across the country.
In a few weeks, Congress reconvenes and will take up the Bush energy plan. It’s time to stop this fossil foolishness and pyromania. If these new investments in dirty technology are allowed to go forward, we may be losing our last chance to head off severe effects of global warming. The responsibility lies not only with the Bush White House, but also with Senate Democrats, like Robert Byrd of West Virginia – the senator from coal, or senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry of Massachusetts. Senator Kerry said he is willing to filibuster to prevent oil drilling in Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuge.
Fossil Fools
I’m speaking to you from the deck of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior in Salem, Massachusetts, a town famous for burning things. Three hundred years ago it was witches, for the last 40 years it’s been coal – 2,000 tons a day, in an electric power plant owned now by Pacific Gas and Electric. Pacific Gas and Electric? In Salem, Massachusetts, on the Atlantic? That’s right, the same company that that gave rolling blackouts to California, the same company that was the villain in “Erin Brockovich.”
Part of this is about deregulation, about some of the worst regional power companies taking their tactics nationwide. Part of this is about global warming, the Kyoto Treaty and the Bush administration. George W. Bush and company are walking away from the rest of the world when it comes to carbon dioxide emissions. Much is made – and rightly so – of Mr. Bush’s connections to the oil industry, but oil is not the only fossil fuel contributing to global warming. Coal is also a primary source of CO2. Salem’s coal-burning power plant had been scheduled to burn less and less coal, switching to cleaner fuels over time. Until the election, that is. Now PG&E is talking about investing another $400 million in coal technology for Salem.
It’s 2001, global warming is real, the dreadful effects are felt every year, and with the blessing of the administration in Washington, PG&E is about to drop almost half a billion on 19th century technology for the Salem plant.
Perhaps there’s an argument to be made for coal. Maybe if we burn more coal, we’ll need to burn less oil and while carbon is carbon and burning in either form makes carbon dioxide, maybe burning coal in Salem will displace some oil and reduce our dependence on foreign sources for energy. Whenever the Bushheads can’t think of any other defense for their energy policies, they trot out the old national-security-and-lets-not depend-on-foreigners argument. It’s a nice attempt, until you learn that 1,000 of the 2,000 tons of coal burned in Salem each day comes from overseas, mostly Colombia and Venezuela.
In Salem, politics are global and local. The PG&E plant sits in a working class neighborhood and you can watch the plume blow up to Marblehead, Beverly, Danvers, Manchester and Cape Ann. Coal is the dirtiest of the fossil fuels. In addition to carbon dioxide, the Salem plant emits sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, lead, mercury, chromium, arsenic and cadmium.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, the Salem PG&E plant, by itself, is directly responsible each year for 53 premature deaths, 43 heart and/or respiratory hospital admissions, 14,000 asthma attacks and $350 million in health care costs. Year in and year out. And Salem is only one of 500 such plants across the country.
In a few weeks, Congress reconvenes and will take up the Bush energy plan. It’s time to stop this fossil foolishness and pyromania. If these new investments in dirty technology are allowed to go forward, we may be losing our last chance to head off severe effects of global warming. The responsibility lies not only with the Bush White House, but also with Senate Democrats, like Robert Byrd of West Virginia – the senator from coal, or senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry of Massachusetts. Senator Kerry said he is willing to filibuster to prevent oil drilling in Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuge.
Will you do as much for Salem, senator?