Renner Barsella, renner.barsella@sierraclub.org
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – Due to fatigue related health and safety reasons, the event scheduled for Tom Hanafan River's Edge Park in Council Bluffs is canceled.
Kayaker Graham Jordinson, will continue his travel after a short rest. Interested followers can watch live updates of his progress via a GPS tracker here. He set out on July 18th from Three Forks, Montana, to embark on a 2,341 mile journey down the Missouri River to its confluence with the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri. The aim of his journey is to raise awareness about the detrimental impacts coal fired power plants have on our environment, climate, and water resources. Council Bluffs will be his second scheduled stop on his coal plant tour, after paddling out of Sioux City Friday. In Council Bluffs Jordison will meet with local Sierra Club members from Iowa and Nebraska to talk about MidAmerican’s Walter Scott Jr Energy Center coal plant in Council Bluffs.
“I hope that my journey will help spark the connection about the energy choices we make and how that impacts the land, air, water, and people along the Missouri River and beyond,” said Graham Jordison, an Organizer for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.
Background on MidAmerican’s Walter Scott Plant:
MidAmerican Energy is one of the largest utilities in the country without any commitment to reducing carbon emissions. Making up roughly half of the utility’s coal capacity, Walter Scott Jr Energy Center is not only the largest toxic polluter in Pottawattamie County, it emits more toxic pollution than any other power plant in Iowa. Pollution from the plant can be attributed to 286 asthma attacks and 25 deaths per yearaccording to Clean Air Task Fource’s Toll From Coal report. It is also the state’s biggest climate polluter, emitting about 9.8 million tons of carbon dioxide over the last two years.
Background on Graham Jordison:
In 2014 Jordison kayaked all of the Mississippi River and since then says he’s been dreaming about paddling North America’s longest river, the Missouri. Through social media he is working to raise at least 1 dollar for every mile of the river he paddles. Funds will be donated to the Sierra Club and to indigenous tribes along the river in Iowa and Nebraska.
The coal plants Jordison will pass along his journey span five states, seven utilities, and collectively cause 328 premature deaths while releasing 50,551,915 tons of carbon dioxide annually. Here is a map of the coal plants. The data is sourced from Toll From Coal.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.