Last proposed U.S. coal plant ended 2020-04-15

Eight years after its twin in Ben Hill County got cancelled, another one also proposed by Power4Georgians is ended.

This was the last coal plant proposed in the U.S. Good riddance. On with solar power!

Plant Washington sign
Photo: Ray Henry, AP, in Georgia developer still trying to build coal plant, 2014-11-16.

And if GA-EPD can say time’s up, the Army Corps can say it for Twin Pines Minerals’ proposed titanium mine near the Okefenokee Swamp, and FERC can do that for Sabal Trail’s Phase II. Remember, only a decade ago Big Coal seemed invincible. Next to fall: “natural” gas.

Nedra Rhone, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 15 April 2020, State EPD closes book on proposed coal plant in Middle Georgia,

In a March 6 letter addressed to Power4Georgians — most recently headed by former Georgia Board of Regents member Dean Alford — the state Environmental Protection Division denied an April 2016 request to extend the plant’s construction permit. The project had been dormant for several years, and the letter represents the paperwork to officially close the file, said Kevin Chambers, spokesman for the EPD. The permit revocation is final, and a new permit application would be required for any future project, he said.

“I am thankful for the EPD’s decision so we can move on from this outdated and unnecessary project,” said Katherine Cummings, a member of the Washington County-based Fall-line Alliance for a Clean Environment (FACE) and a longtime critic of the 12-year-old project. “Plant Washington posed a threat to family budgets, community health, and natural resources in and beyond Middle Georgia. It’s certainly a moment of closure and relief that this polluting giant will never be built.”

The bottom line:

In addition to environmental concerns, the economics of building a coal plant became increasingly questionable as access to renewable energy grew, said Stephen Stetson, senior campaign representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.

“It has never made sense and it has made less and less sense every day as the price of renewables has consistently come down,” Stetson said. “The atmosphere in Georgia is ripe for renewables. You just have to look at dollars and cents.”

Let’s get on with solar power on land and wind power offshore for Georgia and Florida.

Oh, and no coal ash in our landfills.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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