August, 07 2009, 02:02pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Anne Hedges, Montana Environmental Information Center, 406-443-2520
Jenny Harbine, Earthjustice, 406-586-9699
Jerry Taylor, Citizens for Clean Energy, 406-453-0725
Sanjay Narayan, Sierra Club, 415-977-5769
Danielle Blank, National Parks Conservation Association, 406-222-4478
Highwood Coal Plant Project Near Great Falls, Montana Officially Dead
State revokes air quality permit
Bozeman, MT
Following a lengthy legal battle launched by citizen groups, the state of Montana has officially ended plans by a power company to build a dirty coal fired power plant there.
This week, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality revoked the air quality permit for a 250-megawatt coal-fired power plant planned east of Great Falls, Montana. The plant developer, Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative, will instead move forward with a 120-megawatt natural gas-fired plant.
The move was the latest in a series of victories across the country for citizen groups opposed to the construction of new dirty coal power plants because of the massive climate changing pollution they emit.
The Montana plant was challenged by Montana Environmental Information Center, Citizens for Clean Energy, Sierra Club, and the National Parks Conservation Association, represented by Earthjustice.
Earlier this year, SME announced that it would shift its focus toward constructing a natural gas-fired power plant rather than the coal-fired facility in light of ongoing legal challenges and regulatory uncertainty. However, SME retained its air quality permit and continued construction of the coal plant. Now that DEQ has revoked the permit, no further construction may occur on the facility.
Jenny Harbine, an Earthjustice attorney who represented the coalition said, "This coal plant has been an inch from dead for months now and it appears as though the final nail in the coffin has been driven."
If constructed, the plant would have emitted approximately 2.1-million tons of CO2 each year. CO2 is a major global warming pollutant.
Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center said the decision was an enormous step forward noting, "We can no longer continue to ignore global warming. With the revocation of this permit, it appears that SME and Montana have finally recognized that coal-burning has no future in this state."
"Abandoning this plant is a valuable first step towards a modern, clean energy future for Montana," said Sanjay Narayan, an attorney with Sierra Club.
The coal plant was to be built on top of the Great Falls Portage National Historic Landmark and Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. Danielle Blank, senior coordinator with the National Parks Conservation Association, was also relieved. "It was simply inappropriate to consider placing a coal fired power plant within the boundaries of two National Park units," she said. "We're pleased at this important step toward preserving the integrity of The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and Great Falls Portage National Historic Landmark."
Environmental advocates are optimistic that other proposed coal-fired power plants currently challenged by Earthjustice, like Sunflower in Kansas, Desert Rock in New Mexico, and the Dry Fork plant in Wyoming, may soon follow suit.
Harbine stated, "All along, we hoped that our challenge would force a switch to cleaner, and hopefully renewable, sources of energy, so we're heartened to see the announcement today. We hope that others will also see the writing on the wall and make the switch to clean energy."
In the wake of a federal Earthjustice lawsuit in 2007, the federal Rural Utilities Service announced that it would not fund the Highwood coal plant -- or any other coal plants through 2009. According to SME's chief executive, Tim Gregori, regulatory uncertainty and environmental litigation prevented the plant from obtaining alternative financing.
SME's decision to back away from coal comes after years of concerted opposition by citizens concerned about global warming and harmful air pollution. Earthjustice represented citizen groups in several actions challenging the plant's failure to address CO2 emissions that are driving global warming and to install state-of-the-art controls for hazardous air pollutants and fine particulate matter or soot (PM2.5) that causes asthma, heart attacks, and even premature death.
LATEST NEWS
Eyewitnesses Report 'Unlawful Killings' by IDF as Raid on al-Shifa Hospital Continues
One eyewitness said that "Israeli soldiers repeatedly took prisoners into the hospital's morgue area, that gunshots were then heard, and that the soldiers left without the prisoners."
Mar 21, 2024
The Israeli military's raid of Gaza's largest hospital stretched into its fourth consecutive day on Thursday as humanitarian aid groups, United Nations officials, and human rights organizations voiced alarm over the impact on patients, healthcare workers, and displaced people trapped inside the besieged facility.
The multi-day raid that began earlier this week marks the second time Israeli forces have stormed the hospital since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7. In November, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) raided al-Shifa after claiming—without evidence—that Hamas used the hospital as a command center.
The IDF says it has killed more than 140 people it described as "terrorists" in the latest raid, but eyewitnesses told the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor that IDF soldiers "have carried out unlawful killings and executions against displaced Palestinian civilians" inside al-Shifa.
"A survivor who asked to be identified only as 'M.K.' confirmed that Israeli soldiers repeatedly took prisoners into the hospital's morgue area, that gunshots were then heard, and that the soldiers left without the prisoners," Euro-Med said in a statement Wednesday.
M.K. told the group that Israeli soldiers "detained me and handcuffed me in the hospital courtyard," leaving him "undressed for more than nine hours."
"About four times during that period, I saw soldiers lead groups of detainees—[always] at least three people and [never] more than 10—into the hospital buildings, particularly the morgue building where bodies had previously been kept," said M.K. "Gunshots were heard, with the soldiers then leaving the area to bring another group there."
"Patients cannot receive the care they need due to ongoing Israeli military activity. This includes dangerously ill child amputees who need to be transferred and currently cannot be."
CNNreported Wednesday that medical personnel and journalists at the hospital were also detained by Israeli forces and subjected to degrading treatment.
"Palestinian reporters and hospital staff described scenes of humiliating interrogations where colleagues had been undressed and left outside in the cold, after the Israel Defense Forces laid siege to the largest hospital in the enclave in the early hours of Monday," the outlet reported. "One man who was detained told CNN Israeli forces released him without his ID or mobile phone."
Melanie Ward, CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), said Thursday that she and her colleagues "continue to be deeply worried for patients and staff" at al-Shifa.
"Patients cannot receive the care they need due to ongoing Israeli military activity," said Ward. "This includes dangerously ill child amputees who need to be transferred and currently cannot be."
Al-Shifa is the only partially functioning hospital in northern Gaza, where the population is
facing famine conditions due to Israel's persistent obstruction of humanitarian aid deliveries. Al-Shifa had resumed some healthcare services following the IDF's November raid, but the latest assault on the hospital has put patient care in jeopardy, with reports indicating Israeli attacks on key parts of the facility.
Reutersreported Thursday that residents near al-Shifa described the area around the facility as a war zone and said Israeli forces "had blown up houses close by as buildings in the hospital complex burned."
They blew up the surgery department. Shifa is a symbol of civic life in Gaza, and staff have bravely returned some services since it was raided before, and now Israel is destroying what it left. https://t.co/h4uc8055qm
— Rohan Talbot (@rohantalbot) March 21, 2024
As the IDF kicked off its latest raid on al-Shifa earlier this week, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on social media that "hospitals should never be battlegrounds."
The WHO has recorded more than 400 attacks on healthcare facilities or personnel in Gaza since Israel's assault on the territory began in October.
"We are terribly worried about the situation at al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, which is endangering health workers, patients, and civilians," Tedros wrote on social media. "The hospital has only recently restored minimal health services. Any hostilities or militarization of the facility jeopardize health services, access for ambulances, and delivery of life-saving supplies. Hospitals must be protected. Ceasefire!"
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Starvation Caucus': US Lawmakers Push Spending Bill That Bars Funding for UNRWA
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders slammed members of Congress who are "happy to cut funding to UNRWA and make it harder to get aid to Palestinians in the midst of this crisis."
Mar 21, 2024
A $1.2 trillion government spending package that Congress is expected to pass by this weekend would prohibit U.S. funding for the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees for at least a year as Gazans living under Israeli siege face increasingly catastrophic hunger.
Buried at the end of 1,012 pages of legislative text unveiled early Thursday is a section that says funds appropriated under the bipartisan bill "may not be used for a contribution, grant, or other payment" to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which Gazans rely on for food and shelter. The U.S. is historically the largest donor to UNRWA.
The proposed freeze would last through March 2025. Many Republican lawmakers are calling for a permanent end to U.S. funding for the agency, which has faced shortfalls since the Biden administration and other Western governments paused donations in late January following Israel's unsubstantiated claims that UNRWA staffers took part in the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel.
Ahead of the release of legislative text, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) "touted" the UNRWA freeze to members, The Associated Pressreported Wednesday—days after a report warned that Gaza's entire population is facing "high levels of acute food insecurity" and "famine is imminent" in the northern part of the enclave.
Congressional progressives, meanwhile, have urged the Biden administration to immediately restore UNRWA funding.
In a floor speech on Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) castigated lawmakers and others backing UNRWA cuts, calling them members of a "starvation caucus."
"Tens of thousands of people are starving," said Sanders. "UNRWA is trying to feed them. And the Israeli government and its allies like AIPAC spend much of their time lobbying to defund UNRWA, the major organization which is feeding starving people."
"Sadly, tragically, many members of Congress seem to be happy to be part of this starvation caucus, happy to cut funding to UNRWA and make it harder to get aid to Palestinians in the midst of this crisis," Sanders added.
Bernie Sanders calls members of Congress voting to cut funding for UNRWA, the U.N. agency accused of aiding Hamas, the “Starvation Caucus.” pic.twitter.com/wOhuJ2DtUB
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) March 21, 2024
Last week, The American Prospectobtained documents showing that AIPAC is pushing lawmakers to support the total abolition of UNRWA, which has coordinated most humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza amid Israel's latest assault on the territory.
For months, the Israeli government has deliberately obstructed ground-based aid deliveries to Gaza, subjecting shipments to arbitrary and complicated inspection processes and rejecting entire vehicles over items such as scissors in child medical kits.
Israel's blockade has resulted in the rapid spread of malnutrition across the Gaza Strip. Dozens of people, including children, have starved to death in recent weeks.
Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA's commissioner-general, said in an interview Wednesday that it is "a stain on our collective humanity that such a situation is artificially unfolding under our eyes."
"Food should not be used as a weapon of war," he added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Budget Proposal Shows GOP 'Is the Party of Cutting Social Security and Medicare'
"Trump has tried to walk back his support for Social Security and Medicare cuts," said the head of Social Security Works. "This budget is one of many reasons why no one should believe him."
Mar 20, 2024
Defenders of Social Security and Medicare on Wednesday swiftly criticized the biggest caucus of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives for putting out a budget proposal for fiscal year 2025 that takes aim at the crucial programs.
The 180-page "Fiscal Sanity to Save America" plan from the Republican Study Committee (RSC) follows the release of proposals from Democratic President Joe Biden and U.S. House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas)—who is leading the fight to create a fiscal commission for the programs that critics call a "death panel" designed to force through cuts.
The RSC document features full sections on "Saving Medicare" and "Preventing Biden's Cuts to Social Security," which both push back on the president's recent comments calling out Republican attacks on the programs that serve seniors.
The caucus plan promotes premium support for Medicare Advantage plans administered by private health insurance providers as well as changes to payments made to teaching hospitals. For Social Security, the proposal calls for tying retirement age to rising life expectancy and cutting benefits for younger workers over certain income levels, including phasing out auxiliary benefits.
The document also claims that the caucus budget "would promote trust fund solvency by increasing payroll tax revenues through pro-growth tax reform, pro-growth energy policy that lifts wages, work requirements that move Americans from welfare to work, and regulatory reforms that increase economic growth."
In a lengthy Wednesday statement blasting the RSC budget, Social Security Works president Nancy Altman pointed out that last week, former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee to face Biden in the November election, "toldCNBC that 'there's a lot you can do' to cut Social Security."
"Everyone who cares about the future of these vital earned benefits should vote accordingly in November."
"Now, congressional Republicans are confirming the party's support for cuts—to the tune of $1.5 trillion. They are also laying out some of those cuts," Altman said. "This budget would raise the retirement age, in line with prominent Republican influencer Ben Shapiro's recent comments that 'retirement itself is a stupid idea.' It would make annual cost-of-living increases stingier, so that benefits erode over time. It would slash middle-class benefits."
"Perhaps most insultingly, given the Republicans' claim to be the party of 'family values,' this budget would eliminate Social Security spousal benefits, as well as children's benefits, for middle-class families. That would punish women who take time out of the workforce to care for children and other loved ones," she continued. "This coming from a party that wants to take away women's reproductive rights!"
The caucus, chaired by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), included 285 bills and initiatives from 192 members in its budget plan—among them are various proposals threatening abortion care, birth control, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) nationwide.
"The RSC budget would also take away Medicare's new power to negotiate lower prices on prescription drugs, putting more money into the pockets of the GOP's Big Pharma donors," Altman warned. "And it accelerates the privatization of Medicare, handing it over to private insurance companies who have a long history of ripping off the government and delaying and denying care to those who need it."
"In recent days, Trump has tried to walk back his support for Social Security and Medicare cuts," she noted. "This budget is one of many reasons why no one should believe him. The Republican Party is the party of cutting Social Security and Medicare, while giving tax handouts to billionaires."
"The Democratic Party is the party of expanding Social Security and Medicare, paid for by requiring the ultrawealthy to contribute their fair share," Altman added. "Everyone who cares about the future of these vital earned benefits should vote accordingly in November."
Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler also targeted the Republican presidential candidate while slamming the RSC plan, saying that "Donald Trump's MAGA allies in Congress made it clear today: A vote for Trump is a vote to make the MAGA 2025 agenda of cutting Social Security, ripping away access to IVF, and banning abortion nationwide a hellish reality."
"While Trump and his allies push forward their extreme agenda, the American people are watching," Tyler added, suggesting that the RSC proposal will help motivate voters to give Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris four more years in the White House.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular