Open Letter to the Community of St. George 

As many of you know I have publicly come out in opposition of plans to build three coal power plants in Nevada, including the Toquop plant being proposed 12 miles north of Mesquite and west of St. George.  I oppose these plants because I believe there is a better way to produce the power Nevada needs, create jobs and protect our air.  Simply put, we all deserve better and Utahns don’t deserve another generation of downwinders. 

I am particularly opposed to the Toquop plant because it would not even produce power for Nevada.  Rather, the plan for this plant is to foul our air in order to export power to other states.  It reminds me of Yucca Mountain.  No one wants this dirty coal plant in their state, so they think they can just send it here.  Nevada is not a dumping ground-not for nuclear waste and not for dirty coal. 

In addition to the health risks associated with coal, this power source uses a tremendous amount of water.  In fact, the only power source that uses more water than coal is nuclear power.  Nevada barely has enough water to meet our needs as it is, we certainly can't afford to waste it on yesterday's energy technology. 

As for the coal industry's argument that this would be a "clean coal" plant, there is no such thing. There are no clean coal plants anywhere in the U.S. because the technology doesn't exist. It may be cleaner, but it's certainly not clean. Further, published reports state that adding post-combustion technology to proposed so-called "clean coal" plants to remove global warming emissions would more than double water use. 

States across the country, including conservative ones like Idaho and Kansas, are saying no to coal and Nevada should too.  With tremendous solar, wind and geothermal resources, and forward-thinking investments in energy efficiency, we don't need coal. 

I have a vision of making Nevada the nation's leader in clean renewable energy.  Doing that would create thousands of jobs, diversify our state's economy, conserve water, and protect the air we breathe. 

I want you to know that I stand with you in opposition to the proposed Toquop plant and any other plants in Nevada.  It is my strong hope that he people of Utah will oppose this project.  I look forward to working with leaders on a plan to develop an industry that will create thousands of long-term, good-paying jobs that will meet the state's energy needs without polluting Nevada, Utah and the rest of the West.

 U.S. Senator Harry Reid, Majority Leader