62% of Minnesota's energy comes from coal! Minnesota still has 13 coal-fired plants . These plants tend to be older plants grandfathered out of complying with the clean air act. In other words, these plants are dirtier polluters. Our heavy reliance on coal in Minnesota is one of the invisible media stories never told.
(From a powerpoint presentation by Dr. Carol Martinez)
So if mountaintops are being decimated in Appalachia, we are part of that cause. For without demand, the mountaintops would not be decimated.
Coal has been more economical than other energies because the true cost, including environmental cost is not considered. For a quick review, coal power plants are also the largest polluter of toxic mercury pollution. This is one of the reasons that you can fish anywhere in Minnesota, and it is recommended that pregnant women never eat the fish. Coal plants are a major source of toxic air pollution: 59% of total U.S. sulfur dioxide pollution and 18% of total nitrogen, 50% of particle pollution and 40% of total U.S. carbon dioxide pollution. This contributes to health problems like asthma and to global warming. Coal plants create acidic rain which destroys ecosystems by changing delicate pH balances, as well as directly contributing water toxins. And "clean coal" is technically impossible, which means that when politicians use the term "clean coal", they mean less polluting coal, which is still really awful.
So the real questions are: Will Minnesota be able to move away from coal? Is XCEL, the Minnesota energy company, pushing for coal or green technologies?
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Today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) delivered a big blow to the proposed Big Stone II plant and a huge victory for our climate and environment.
