Why we oppose the coal-fired Highwood Generating Station

Comments on the release of the final Environmental Impact Statement for the HGS
FROM FEBRUARY 5, 2007 MONTANA GREEN BULLETIN
For more than 2 years, local doctors, scientists, environmentalists and fiscal conservatives have been organizing to oppose the planned coal-fired power plant. As editor and publisher of the weekly Montana Green Bulletin (since 2002), I have published news or comments about this issue nearly every week. The two main reasons we opposed this plant was because of CO2 emissions (equivalent to all the cars in Seattle - 560,000) and other greenhouse gases, acid rain precursors, and small particulates, as well as several toxic heavy metals like lead and mercury.
We have also argued - very persuasively and without refutation - that the electricity from this plant will be far more expensive than alternative sources, and even if SME wants to build it, the City of Great Falls should have no part in it, and local taxpayers and ratepayers should not be forced to pay for this folly.
The FEIS does NOT represent "sound science" or "due diligence" on the part of the Rural Utilities Services (the lender of most of the federal funding -- your tax dollars) or the Montana DEQ, which have both signed on to it. The DEIS was prepared by a contractor paid by SME. All of our comments and objections were simply "answered" in the final DEIS. They weren't addressed beyond a few cosmetic changes in the DEIS. Most often, there was a simple "Thank you for your comments" section, indicating that there was no statutory reason for the DEQ or RUS to address the issues raised. There were no substantive changes in the plans to build the plant, aside from moving it a few hundred feet outside a National Historic Landmark!
Now, with global warming being the top concern of policy-makers everywhere, Mr. Gregori is pledging to remove "up to 90%" of the CO2 from the HGS emissions. The only known way to do this is to use coal gasification (IGCC) technologies, which Citizens for Clean Energy people have been urging all along. SME and the City of Great Falls have adamantly resisted this recommendation. Now that the governor is telling them he won't support any coal development that can't sequester CO2, Mr. Gregori is anxious to curry the governor's favor. So he makes this "promise" without any documentation or any plan to carry it out.
If we're going to build the Highwood Station with IGCC, a whole new [EIS] process will have to be undertaken.
The fact is, we don't need to build any more coal plants of any kind, and those already in use need to be closed down or converted to IGCC technologies. There are plenty of alternative sources for SME customers and the City of Great Falls -- all of them cheaper, cleaner, and more advantageous for local residents, taxpayers, and ratepayers. We can start out by taking back the local hydropower as a public power facility. The fact that the City of Great Falls has squandered $3 million on the Highwood Station, while refusing even to endorse or support the Buy Back the Dams initiative and a state Public Power Authority indicates there is something rotten in Cascade County.

Paul Stephens, Montana Green Bulletin