Pacific Northwest to Become First Coal-Free Region in United States

[Drale]

Sierra Club Deputy Conservation Director Bruce Nilles today joined Washington Governor Chris Gregoire in Centralia, Washington as the Governor signed a bill to systematically end the burning of coal in the state of Washington.

The bill formalizes a landmark agreement between the Sierra Club, Governor Gregoire and TransAlta – the owner of the only coal-fired power plant in the state – which will phase-out the massive 1,400 megawatt TransAlta plant between 2020 and 2025. Washington now joins Oregon in approving a plan to phase-out the destructive use of coal-fired power, setting the Pacific Northwest on a path to becoming the nation’s first coal-free region.

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/compass/2011/04/pacific-northwest-to-become-first-coal-free-region-in-united-states.html?sf1397620=1

[Buzz Clik]

1. On to the nukes.

No shortage of nuclear reactors in Washington.

[Drale]

2. One step at a time my friend

one step at a time.

[madinmaryland]

4. Actually hydro electric power is nearly three quarters of the power supplied in Washington State.

The rest is nukes and coal and miscellaneous.

[Generic Other]

6. only hanford

but it's a a big monster of a mess.

[Cleita]

3. Good for them. I hope we can make CA coal and nuke free too

opening the whole West Coast to alternative, green energy. Now we need the money to do it. I say all those billionaires who got federal tax cuts, should pay state taxes instead to cover this. Time for progressive taxation on a state level. I think we, in California, should use the 90% top rate that the Eisenhower administration had on a federal level. California has more millionaires and billionaires that any other state other than maybe some on the East Coast like New York.

[Matariki]

5. I think we should be exploring geothermal power here in Cascadia.

[KamaAina]

7. Southern Cascadia's Sonoma County has had The Geysers for years

(I'm using the geographical boundaries of "Ecotopia" in The Nine Nations of North America, which extends it down the coast as far as the Bay Area)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Yay for us.

We moved here from L.A. 30 years ago and never looked back.