The announcement that construction will commence on a new coal power plant is rarely accompanied by words of praise from environmental groups, but that’s just the case with the NuCoastal Power Corporation plant located in Point Comfort, Southeast Texas. Operators of the plant, which will utilize petroleum coke, a refining byproduct that burns similarly to coal, have agreed to drastically cut and offset all of its emissions of toxic mercury and climate-changing CO2.
Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas Office, and Karen Hadden, head of the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition, brokered the deal with NuCoastal, essentially agreeing, in return for the reductions, not to oppose the plant’s air permit as it undergoes state approval. The coalition contends this is the first time any power plant in the nation has agreed to offset all of its mercury emissions (initially cutting output by 80% and buying credits for the remainder), and the first time a plant in Texas has agreed to offset its carbon dioxide emissions. Smith said NuCoastal will achieve its carbon reductions by supporting energy efficiency upgrades and weatherization of homes in Texas, investing in renewable energy, and shutting down an existing electric plant or separating carbon dioxide and sequestering it.
This article appears in August 24 • 2007.