Amanda Ghanooni
If the first two weeks of 2016 are any indication, 2016 is shaping up to be a very big year for the US to make the shift beyond coal, to clean energy. From Oregon to New York, and from Wall Street to Main Street, it feels like there has been big news breaking almost every day, and it all points in the same direction - a nation moving closer to being powered by 100 percent clean energy.
Just today, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced that the Obama administration will be compiling a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on coal leasing on public lands and putting an immediate suspension on all future and modified coal leases. This is major news that deserves to be praised: The federal coal leasing program is broken, outdated, and does not consider the threat of climate change in our communities.
And that’s only what happened today!
Earlier this week in New York, after a three-year campaign by the Sierra Club and our allies, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced in his state of the state address that the state will move entirely off coal by 2020 coupled with a transition glide path for coal affected communities and a commitment to mandate 50 percent of New York’s energy is sourced from renewables by 2030..
This was jaw-dropping, considering that until the announcement, New York - home to four coal plants - had been the only state in the country actually trying to pull coal plants out of retirement, and put them back into service. This big victory is the result of an intense three-year public campaign that targeted each plant individually, and included a call for a coal transition from 70+ state legislators.
New York is only the second large state to move to end all coal generation, after California, and it's the ninth state overall. And, this is just the first time a Governor of a state has announced they will use administrative action to move completely off coal (Governor Gregoire in Washington and Governor Kitzhaber in Oregon led efforts there to retire their state coal plants.)
Other big news came early in the new year from the West Coast, as Oregon utilities agreed to a plan to phase out imported coal generated electricity by no later than 2035. The only coal plant in the state is already announced to retire, so the next step was to push out the coal being imported over the wires from other Western states.
The agreement calls for PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric to meet 50 percent of electricity needs from renewable sources by 2040 - double the current standard - and eliminate coal use by 2035. The agreement was reached between the utilities, environmental organizations, and consumer advocates, and will be introduced as legislation before the Oregon state legislature next month. It’s the culmination of a multi-year campaign that was contentious at times, leading one PacifiCorp spokesman to quip,
“Some of these folks we’ve never worked with before, so it is actually exciting to find some common interests. You don’t see PacifiCorp and Sierra Club on the same letterhead very often.”
This momentum continues to hit the bottom lines of coal companies, and on January 11, Arch Coal - the nation’s second largest coal company - announced it was filing for bankruptcy protection. Headlines from coast to coast proclaimed this a very bad for the prospects of the US coal industry - Mother Jones wrote that “the coal industry is off to a terrible, no good, very bad year.”
The fact is, much hangs in the balance. Two-thirds of US coal plants are still operating, and the industry remains powerful and well-connected politically. At the same time, the precarious state of the industry throws into sharp relief the need for transition plans and funds for workers and communities traditionally reliant on coal. As I said in my statement about the Arch Coal announcement:
“Arch Coal’s bankruptcy is the latest sign of a profound shift in America’s energy landscape. With one-third of the nation’s coal plants slated for retirement, due to grassroots advocacy and increased competition from renewable energy, the coal industry’s prospects are fading. The bankruptcy of America’s second largest coal company, which comes on the heels of an historic, universal climate agreement in Paris, is a clear signal that coal is a fuel of the past, and that America’s future will be powered by clean energy that doesn’t harm public health or our climate.”
“As we transition away from coal to clean energy, it is essential that all levels of government and the private sector invest in the coal workers and the communities who have powered our country for a over a century, so that they can enjoy new economic opportunities that provide long term stability. Congress in particular should support these communities during this transition by making sure that coal workers, and their families, continue to have financial stability, education and training opportunities, as well as all of the healthcare and pension benefits they’ve earned through their years of service. Additionally, lawmakers need to provide the kind of funding necessary for cleaning up the toxic legacy left behind by the industry.
“Coal workers and their communities were the backbone of America's industrial revolution, were critical in our victory in two world wars, and were major contributors to the rise of American prosperity. As coal is replaced by cleaner forms of energy, we must provide those workers and communities with the support and gratitude they are due.”
Following on the heels of the Paris climate agreement signed in December, the writing is clearly on the wall in 2016: this will be a pivotal year for our campaign, and for the future of the coal industry. It’s a year when we will push even harder to retire coal plants and replace them with clean energy, keep coal in the ground, and provide a transition for coal workers and communities. It’s a year when we’ll keep making history. I hope you’ll join us.