| “Rumors of our demise are greatly exaggerated.” That famous quote from Mark Twain was the humorous response issued by Frank Maisano, a spokesman for the Toquop power plant project being proposed by Sithe Global. Maisano was responding to recent statements by Mesquite mayor Susan Holecheck that the Toquop project was dead, sentiments which were echoed by others at last week’s meeting of the local Defend Our Desert organization. “It’s in her interest to say that,” Maisano said. The claims and counter-claims were prompted by a recent ruling from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding a proposed power plant in Utah which would burn waste coal. The ruling claimed that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide can be taken into account by federal environmental agencies when deciding whether to permit a coal-fired power plant to receive an operating license. Previously, the EPA and similar state bureaus like the Nevada Environmental Protection Agency have claimed that, since there is no federal standard or limit on carbon dioxide emissions, licenses cannot be denied based on those emissions. The new ruling means such emissions can be considered during the agency’s deliberation process. The sticky part is that there are currently no federal standards in place which would determine how much carbon dioxide is too much. According to Maisano, the ruling will not stop the Toquop project. “It will have no impact on us,” said Maisano, a Washington, D.C. energy lobbyist who was in Mesquite last week. “It may have a bigger impact on our other projects.” Maisano went on to explain that Toquop’s air quality permit is already in the state’s hands, and will not involve the federal EPA. “We are very much moving forward,” Maisano said. However, that permit process has been tied up an inordinately long time by the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection, leading to questions as to whether the department is going to issue the permit, or sit on it until the EPA actually develops a CO2 standard. The project is also awaiting a final Environmental Impact Statement from the Bureau of Land Management, which owns the land the proposed Toquop plant will sit on. Whether the EPA develops a specific standard or uses the more liberal “best available controls” criteria often cited in such cases, Maisano is confident that the Toquop plant will meet the requirements. “You can only control CO2 through efficiency,” Maisano said, explaining that the plant which has been proposed for a location just 12 miles from Mesquite employs the most efficient coal-burning process available. Sithe Global claims that “the project is expected to have the lowest emission permitted to date” in the United States. So the question now becomes political. Opponents of coal technology claim that, with a Democrat-controlled House and Senate and a Democrat in the White House, the CO2 standards will undoubtedly be set high. However, both Obama and McCain claimed repeatedly during the recent presidential campaign that they strongly supported “clean coal” as an energy option. Sithe Global believes their Toquop plant certainly qualifies. While it appears unlikely that the recent EPA ruling will actually kill the Toquop project, one unanswered question remains, lurking like a coal plant-killing predator: Water. Maisano admitted that Sithe Global has allowed a contract to expire on 2,000 acre-feet of water needed for the plant. The water contract was a complicated mechanism involving the Lincoln County Water District, the Vidler Water company, and another possible water vendor. Without that contract, nobody seems to know where the 2,500 acre-feet of water required for the plant will come from. Including Maisano. However, he insists that “we’ll have the water when we need it.” According to information from Sithe Global, the company has expressed an intent to use recycled municipal wastewater as a source. But with the Lincoln County Land Act development projects at a standstill due to the collapse of the real estate market, it may be decades before there are enough homes nearby to generate the amount of waste water needed for the power plant. According to the Virgin Valley Water District, Mesquite’s recycled wastewater is already over-allocated. With Lincoln County scrambling to come up with more of state-owned water to feed the Coyote Springs development, a massive housing project already underway on the west end of the county, there appear to be few answers for the Toquop project’s water woes. Meanwhile, with the question of emissions standards now in play, it appears the Defend Our Desert group is back in the game. And the organization is definitely the mouse that roared. During the flurry of public hearings, the group was able to muster rallies and throngs of supporters in opposition of the Toquop project. Defend Our Desert managed to go toe-to-toe with Sithe Global’s owner, the Blackstone Group, one of the wealthiest and most powerful business conglomerates on the planet. And they did so with virtually no budget, nearly zero funds, no high-powered lawyers on retainer, and little more than an abundance of heart, courage, and an intense desire to stop a coal-fired power plant from cropping up in their back yard. However, once the public hearings and forums ended, the group appeared to lose its focus, recently dabbling in other energy and environmental issues which have nothing to do with its founding purpose. If the future of Toquop comes down to a new CO2 standard to be issued by the EPA, Defend Our Desert will be able to once again marshal its forces and apply pressure on political leaders, while also continuing to research and provide empirical evidence that might help influence the EPA’s decision on where the bar will be set for greenhouse gas emissions. Either way, it appears both sides are headed to round two | 
