Big wins mean cleaner communities.
Across the country, our campaigns are shutting down dirty coal plants and seeking justice for the affected people and environmental resources that surround them. Here are some examples of where we’ve made a difference.
Retirements Announced for Plants in Kentucky, Tennessee
In February 2019, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directors voted to retire the remaining coal unit at the Paradise power plant in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, and the Bull Run coal plant in Anderson County, Tennessee. “Phasing out coal-burning at the Paradise power plant is the right decision because the remaining coal unit is unneeded, inefficient, inflexible, needs expensive repairs, and rarely runs,” said Joey Shadowen, chair of the Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club in Kentucky. “Now that the TVA board has affirmed that with their vote, TVA can create a transition fund and job-training assistance to protect and support communities affected by the plant closures.” After exhaustive environmental and economic analyses, TVA’s staff determined these coal plants are no longer economic and are not needed in light of cleaner, less expensive energy sources. TVA also concluded that retiring these coal plants would save huge sums of money system-wide, lowering electricity rates for customers and helping the regional economy.
The Lone Star State Ditches the Big Brown Coal Plant
For decades, the Big Brown Power Plant was one of the largest sources of sulfur dioxide pollution in the United States and one of the nation's top five mercury emitters. Not anymore. The Sierra Club Dallas Group and the Club's Beyond Coal campaign rejoiced along with other environmental organizations when the east Texas coal-fired power plant officially closed in February 2018. Studies by the Clean Air Task Force showed that Big Brown alone caused approximately 55 deaths, 1,000 asthma attacks, and 82 heart attacks in 2012. Its retirement will save $1.6 billion annually in public health costs, according to a study by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. "Young people in Dallas have never breathed legally clean air. It took us 25 years to get this win," said Cherelle Blazer, a representative with the Beyond Coal campaign. Blazer herself got involved after her husband suffered an asthma attack and went into a coma, followed by her going into premature labor. Big Brown was the third Texas coal plant to retire in 2018.
Victory for the Moapa Band of Paiutes in Nevada
In May 2014, NV Energy filed plans to retire and replace the Reid Gardner coal plant with clean energy, including the purchase of new solar farm projects. The retiring of the Reid Gardner coal plant marks a remarkable triumph for the Moapa Band of Paiutes, who fought for years against the pollution and health problems that the plant brought to their reservation, and who are also developing a 200 MW solar projects that will help replace it. The Moapa Band of Paiutes live adjacent to where the Reid Gardner plant was located, and tribal members suffered from multiple health issues, including asthma, lung disease, heart disease, and others that could be attributed to the plant’s toxic coal ash dust. The plant also polluted Southern Nevada’s air with smog-producing oxides of nitrogen, and toxins like mercury, cadmium, lead, and arsenic. “When we first started to call for the retirement of Reid Gardner, we were told it couldn’t be done,” said Vickie Vickie Simmons, member of the Moapa Band of Paiutes’ Tribal Council and its Environmental Committee. “This will mean a cleaner and better future for our families and community.” The Reid Gardner plant was the 165th coal plant to retire or announce retirement since our campaign began in 2010.