West Virginia Blue
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I love hearing stories where people make positive change. It's easy to just complain and stick your head in the sand but I'm always inspired when I see how many folks are out there quietly doing the groundwork for the big changes we need.
SEED volunteers help with construction of a community center building in Rock Creek, WV
And change is undeniably upon the coal industry again. The increased use of mountaintop removal mining means that fewer miners are needed to meet company production goals. Meanwhile the Central Appalachian coal seams that remain to be mined are becoming thinner and more costly to mine. Mountaintop removal mining, a declining national demand for energy, rising mining costs and erratic spot market prices all add up to fewer jobs in the coal fields.
These are real problems. They affect real people. And West Virginia's elected officials are rightly concerned about jobs and the economic impact on local communities. I share those concerns. But the time has come to have an open and honest dialogue about coal's future in West Virginia.
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The greatest threats to the future of coal do not come from possible constraints on mountaintop removal mining or other environmental regulations, but rather from rigid mindsets, depleting coal reserves, and the declining demand for coal as more power plants begin shifting to biomass and natural gas as a way to reduce emissions.
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Change has been a constant throughout the history of our coal industry. West Virginians can choose to anticipate change and adapt to it, or resist and be overrun by it. One thing is clear. The time has arrived for the people of the Mountain State to think long and hard about which course they want to choose.
Some grassroots activists in West Virginia have been already been thinking "long and hard" about which course they want to choose. They want a way forward for their community that includes clean, safe, homegrown jobs.
I think there are other options beyond coal because coal's not gonna be here forever - our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, what are they gonna do when coal's not here? There needs to be some kind of other jobs besides coal. I think there's a lot of smaller businesses that would like to be in this area, but they're scared off because of the mining. If you can get a few things started, you can get a few people to work - you can even employ these high school graduates. There's not a lot of young people; what ones are here, they leave or they go in the mines because that's the only thing to do, and by the time they're 30, they're half-dead.
Unfortunately, since too many politicians remain focused on bringing large-scale coal-based development to Appalachia we still need a hand-up for communities ravaged by coal-mining, not yet another hand-out for coal mining companies.
These grassroots activists need our help
Like any volunteer effort, the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development project cannot be sustained by sweat equity alone. It needs your help. There is an immediate need for anemometers to measure wind feasibility, then there are additional costs associated with the purchase and installation of wind turbines in the Coal River Valley.
Sustainable Energy and Economic Development is a community organizing project connecting residents of the Coal River Valley to one another and to the outside resources they need to make their small business and renewable energy ventures a reality. We began by meeting with twelve families in the valley over the summer and fall, and identified three inspiring projects to pursue. Two families are in the beginning stages of a community owned wind development project. One group of woodworkers are building a wood kiln to dry and increase the value of sustainably forested lumber. The SEED Community Team formed as a group of locals generating new ideas for community revival and economic diversification in monthly meetings. In their latest meeting, they resolved to build a community owned greenhouse and plan to break ground on the project in the winter. The entrepreneurial spirit is spreading!
Sustainable Energy and Economic Development is structured to ensure accountability to community members. It begins with listening to community members, and the Community Team ensures that project organizers do not veer off course in the collaborative process of small business development.
Organizers are working on two wind development projects in the the valley. They need to start raising funds today to be able to purchase and install a 100 kilowatt wind turbines as soon as possible and stake the community's claim on the toe of Coal River Mountain. This single-turbine installation lays the groundwork for larger wind development in the future.
I, too, am frustrated with Washington these days. The solution, however, is not to tune out but to work locally, "where you can celebrate victory," in the words of Cindy Sheehan.
In Greenbrier County WV, the Beech Ridge Wind Farm is a $300 million, 119-wind turbine wind farm presently under construction. The 400 feet (120 m) tall wind turbines, each of which will generate 1.5 megawatts of electricity, will be scattered for 15 miles (24 km) along Shellcamp, Smokehouse, Beech, Rockcamp and Big ridges and Cold Knob, Old Field, Blue Knob and Nunly mountains. Total output for the project will be 186 megawatts.
Take a look at the map below to compare Greenbrier's existing power transmission lines to those where the Coal River Mountain project in Raleigh County has been proposed.
It's pretty obvious that while Raleigh County has some hefty lines crisscrossing right through it (intersecting at Beckley), most of Greenbrier County is pretty power-line free. Apparently that's why there's a new power line a new 13.8 miles (22.2 km), 138 kilovolt power transmission line, to be located in Greenbrier and Nicholas counties. The construction of those lines are already injecting revenue into the local economy.
Note that there's a really hefty power transmission line crisscrossing Grant and Tucker because Grant County's Mount Storm Wind Energy Center has a 66 megawatt plant with 44 1.5 megawatt turbines that generate enough electricity to power 22,000 homes. It's 132 wind turbines stretch along 12 miles of the Allegheny Front, and can generate up to 264 megawatts. That's enough electricity to serve about 66,000 homes and businesses. And Tucker County's wind farm consists of 44 NEG Micon 1.5 megawatt (MW) wind turbines that produce 66 MW of electricity. Tucker county's Mountaineer Wind Energy Center generates enough electricity to power approximately 20,000 homes.
The reason I delineated Kanawha county in red is because the transmission lines coming from its polluting coal-fired John Amos power plant are far fewer and less impressive than those running through Tucker and Grant county, which lead me to suspect that someone from our "extraction" state may well have over specified the power line right-of-way requirements from non-coal producing power generating systems. BTW I found the above power line grid map on the U.S. Dept. of Energy website, so it should be fairly accurate.
Anyway, since Tucker County has had its wind farm on line since 2003, it may be useful to know what its done for the county. Resident Robert Burns worked for the Tucker County Development Authority during the planning and construction of the wind farm, and recently spoke with a southern WV coalfield delegation about some bottom line incentives for wind in West Virginia.
"Our local government was looking for two things when deciding about the economic development of Mountaineer Wind Energy - taxes and jobs."
The project created local jobs, and the county tax revenues increased significantly from the onset of the project. And although school districts across our southern coalfield are failing due to lack of funds, 60-70% of tax payments to Tucker county from Mountaineer Wind Energy are reinvested into schools. source
One last item regarding the ability of "extraction states" to fund wind farm projects
Chinese banks put up $1.5 billion for a 36,000-acre wind farm in Texas with the power to light up 180,000 homes. CBSnews, Oct. 29, 2009
"The project is a joint venture with U.S. Renewable Energy Group, a private equity firm, Austin, Texas-based Cielo Wind Power LP and Shenyang Power Group of China
"The joint venture also plans to tap into U.S. stimulus funding for alternative energy, said Cappy McGarr, managing partner of U.S. Renewable Energy.
"Armed with nearly $1 billion in federal grants, wind farm developers installed 1,649 megawatts of capacity from July through September - enough to serve the equivalent of 480,000 average households and about 18 percent more than the year-ago quarter, the American Wind Energy Association said last week.
"That suggests the industry is doing better than might be expected, easing fears that a lack of lending would stall new wind capacity". source
Check this out
"Now is a great time to be investing [in renewable energy] because of all of the advantages of the stimulus package money," said McGarr, managing partner of U.S. Renewable Energy Group."And this is an opportunity to create something that will last a long, long time."
"The $1.5 billion project is an opportunity for China, which has been aggressively expanding its wind power, to get a toehold in the U.S. renewable energy market. The deal was announced on the same day U.S. trade negotiators said China agreed to drop a restriction that has insulated Chinese wind turbines from import competition."
"Hornaday said the Chinese investment helped to make up for the impact of low energy prices. Wind farms have looked less attractive to investors as the price of natural gas, which heavily influences the price for power in Texas, remains low.
"...To qualify for the stimulus grant, the project must begin construction by 2010.source
Anyone wondering how much of the stimulus money Governor Manchin hasn't spent developing "renewable" alternative energy sources in WV can follow the money at this link
There's a shovel-ready wind project in Raleigh County for which the residents have been petitioning the state to save for quite some time now. But due monumental acts of bad faith by agents of the WV Department of Environmental Protection and the WV Department of Energy, it may never come to pass.
The problem is that their state agents have decided to contravene the The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) and issue permits to Massey subsidiary Marple Coal without properly reviewing the woefully inadequate post-mining land use master plan which calls for the mountains to be restored to support "forest, wildlife, and fish". So the blasting away of a natural, non-polluting solid and reliable source of income for Raleigh County has begun, and along with it the hopes and dreams of that community.
Please call President Obama today at 202-456-1414 and implore him to use his agencies and influence with West Virginia politicians to stop the destruction of Coal River Mountain immediately.
W.Va. House of Delegates Speaker Rick Thompson and other House leaders apparently don't want to even talk about real alternative energy sources.
[snip]
House Concurrent Resolution 52 had 6 original cosponsors and 35 cosponsors. But House leaders sent it to committee, and then bottled it up without allowing the public to see where their elected representatives stood whether West Virginia should try to move toward a greener energy future.
Meanwhile, Gov. Manchin's energy bill has morphed from bad to worse and is still moving through the legislature.
Read Ken Ward, Jr.'s whole post for more background and links.
Rally!
Join us for the Rally for Green Jobs and Healthy Mountains!!
When: Tuesday September 16, 5:00 - 6:30 PM
Come join us at the West Virginia State Capitol on Tuesday, Sept. 16 to celebrate and promote the development of wind power on Coal River Mountain as a symbol of the change and commitment that West Virginia, and the nation, must make if we are to solve the energy and climate crises that we now face. Directions to the Capitol
There will be amazing speakers, great music, and a chance to send a clear message to Governor Manchin - and the world- that we demand clean energy and good, stable jobs. He has the power to make that happen and we have the power to make him listen.
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