Folks in Utah's Dixie are riled about the prospect of being downwind of a proposed coal-fired power plant
in nearby Mesquite, Nev. They are worried about air quality and haze. It's good that they're worried, and
that the Washington County Commission and the mayors of St. George and Springdale have joined the
opposition.
This leads us to wonder, however, when other Utahns and their government officials will get the
message that coal-fired power, at least with conventional technology, is no longer acceptable, even when
large numbers of Utahns are not immediately downwind.
Where's the public outrage about the proposed expansion of the Intermountain Power Project with a
new 950-megawatt unit near Delta? Or the 270-megawatt Sevier Power Plant proposed at Sigurd? Or the
110-megawatt Bonanza plant near Vernal?
They will produce the same pollution - mercury, particulates, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide (the
major greenhouse gas) - as the 750-megawatt Toquop plant proposed near Mesquite. But while local
officials in Washington County have joined the opposition, you don't hear the same song in other Utah
cities and towns. Heck, many Utah municipal utilities are partners in the deal to get the huge new unit at
IPP built.
Even if the folks in Utah don't take a dim view of these plants - they provide high-paying jobs, taxes
and electric power, after all - our neighbors in Colorado, Kansas and points east should. That's the thing
about air. Everybody's downwind of somebody else.
The conventional argument for conventional coal power is that it's cheap. But people are beginning to
factor in the environmental cost of that power, measured in things like lung disease and the haze that
obscures views in Utah's national parks. They are coming to the conclusion that conventional coal power
is not so cheap after all. Add the role of carbon dioxide emissions in global warming, and the possible
effects on Utah's climate, including drought, and the bargain looks even worse.
Apparently, the quiescent Utah Legislature and governor have not yet awakened to the damage pouring
from coal-fired stacks. Until they do, and impose tougher air-quality standards, electric utilities won't
know which way to jump.
Maybe more Utahns should help their elected officials make up their minds. Because in reality, we're
all downwind.
