This Washington
TransAlta Bill Gets a Reprieve
In yesterday's Afternoon Jolt, we made state Rep. Richard DeBolt (R-20, Chehalis) our daily winner because Rep. Marko Liias's (D-21, Edmonds) bill
to phase out the TansAlta coal plant in Centralia (the number one single greenhouse gas polluter in the state) by 2020, died in committee. (Republicans are hotly opposed to the bill and DeBolt, the Repbulican house Minority Leader, works for TransAlta.)
However, we added this footnote:
And indeed, this morning Rockefeller's version passed out out of the senate environment committee.
However, environmentalists shouldn't get too excited either.
Liias' version was much more serious about phasing out coal and helping the community.
Starting next year, Liias' bill would have imposed $1 per megawatt hour charge on the company (an estimated $4 million, plus $5 million a year from eliminating TransAlsta's tax break) that was earmarked to clean up the site and finance community projects (i.e., jobs). The Rockefeller version includes an ill-defined fund that won't kick in until 2018, two years before the plant is scheduled to close. (And Rockefeller's version doesn't get rid of the tax break either.)
"The community is not getting the money up front to invest in a transition," says Environmental Priorities Coalition spokesman Craig Benjamin. "We worked really hard to get that in the bill."
On the way to the 2020 deadline, Liias' bill mandated a time schedule for gradually phasing out coal use at the plant. Rockefeller's does not.
Rockefeller's bill also allows TransAlta to petition the governor to extend the close date to 2025.
“We need to end coal pollution as soon as possible," says Doug Howell of the Sierra Club's Coal Free Washington campaign. "We look forward to working with the legislature to improve this bill and create a model for the nation of how investing in the transition to a clean-energy future can create jobs and a healthy economy.”
Editorializing here, but Centralia residents, who showed up in full force earlier this week to oppose the Liias bill because of the 278 jobs at the plant, should actually be disappointed that it was watered down. TransAlta has stated publicly that coal is not part of the energy future and they want to transition and Liias' bill was a safeguard for making sure the community didn't get discarded in that future.
As Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-34, W. Seattle, Burien) pointed out at a hearing earlier this week, TransAlta doesn't have a good track record of preparing the community; when they abruptly closed the coal mine in Centralia in 2006 (the plant currently ships in its coal from Wyoming), they didn't give the workers any notice.
The good news, it seems, for everyone, is that the bill is still in play, which will allow Liias and environmentalists to try and get the original provisions back in the mix.
"We look forward to working with all legislators to improve the bill as it moves forward," Howell said. "In particular, we hope to accelerate the transition off of dirty coal and restore the level of economic development/job-creation funding for the local community that we supported in earlier drafts of the bill."
However, we added this footnote:
DeBolt shouldn’t get cocky, though: There’s a senate version sponsored by Sen. Phil Rockefeller (D-23), which has until Monday to make it out of committee.
And indeed, this morning Rockefeller's version passed out out of the senate environment committee.
However, environmentalists shouldn't get too excited either.
Liias' version was much more serious about phasing out coal and helping the community.
Starting next year, Liias' bill would have imposed $1 per megawatt hour charge on the company (an estimated $4 million, plus $5 million a year from eliminating TransAlsta's tax break) that was earmarked to clean up the site and finance community projects (i.e., jobs). The Rockefeller version includes an ill-defined fund that won't kick in until 2018, two years before the plant is scheduled to close. (And Rockefeller's version doesn't get rid of the tax break either.)
"The community is not getting the money up front to invest in a transition," says Environmental Priorities Coalition spokesman Craig Benjamin. "We worked really hard to get that in the bill."
On the way to the 2020 deadline, Liias' bill mandated a time schedule for gradually phasing out coal use at the plant. Rockefeller's does not.
Rockefeller's bill also allows TransAlta to petition the governor to extend the close date to 2025.
“We need to end coal pollution as soon as possible," says Doug Howell of the Sierra Club's Coal Free Washington campaign. "We look forward to working with the legislature to improve this bill and create a model for the nation of how investing in the transition to a clean-energy future can create jobs and a healthy economy.”
Editorializing here, but Centralia residents, who showed up in full force earlier this week to oppose the Liias bill because of the 278 jobs at the plant, should actually be disappointed that it was watered down. TransAlta has stated publicly that coal is not part of the energy future and they want to transition and Liias' bill was a safeguard for making sure the community didn't get discarded in that future.
As Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-34, W. Seattle, Burien) pointed out at a hearing earlier this week, TransAlta doesn't have a good track record of preparing the community; when they abruptly closed the coal mine in Centralia in 2006 (the plant currently ships in its coal from Wyoming), they didn't give the workers any notice.
The good news, it seems, for everyone, is that the bill is still in play, which will allow Liias and environmentalists to try and get the original provisions back in the mix.
"We look forward to working with all legislators to improve the bill as it moves forward," Howell said. "In particular, we hope to accelerate the transition off of dirty coal and restore the level of economic development/job-creation funding for the local community that we supported in earlier drafts of the bill."
