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Texas Baptists Oppose Coal Power Plants    [

    Environmentalists Rally to Stop New Coal-Fired Plants
    The Associated Press

    Sunday 11 February 2007

    Austin - Carrying signs with slogans of "Stop the Coal Rush" and "Shame on Texas," about 1,000 people rallied at the state Capitol on Sunday to call for lawmakers to slow down a plan to build up to 18 new coal-fired power plants.

    Environmentalists fear the new plants, with 11 proposed by energy giant TXU Corp., will pump millions of tons of pollutants into the air every year.

    "Coal plants seem so archaic," said Stacy Foss, an Austin teacher who brought her two young children to the rally in the 50-degree weather. "Texas is so environmentally incorrect."

    Organized by about 40 environmental and health advocacy groups, including the Sierra Club and the American Lung Association, the rally called on lawmakers to support a time out on permits for the new plants. The TXU coal proposal is on the fast track under an order Gov. Rick Perry issued in 2005 to expand the production of electricity and lower its cost.

    TXU has said the proposed plants will meet the state's growing demand for power, give an economic boost to small towns and reduce toxic emissions by replacing older, less efficient plants.

    But Rep. Charles "Doc" Anderson, a Waco Republican, has filed a resolution calling for a 180-day moratorium on new coal plant permits to give state officials more time to study the environment and health impacts.

    A hearing on TXU's application for permits is scheduled to begin Feb. 21 in Austin.

    "A moratorium would give us time to take a deep clean breath," Anderson said. His resolution has not been scheduled for a vote in the House.

    Many in the crowd Sunday carried signs warning about global warming and called for the state to invest in wind and solar power and conservation programs.

    Several people dressed in costumes as coal miners with sooty faces. Damon Jones, an Austin restaurant manager, wore a gas mask with his black suit.

    "I'm just another guy trying to avoid the pollution," Jones said.

    Stephen Hodgsen, an engineer from Galveston, said he became motivated after watching former Vice President Al Gore's Oscar-nominated documentary about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth."

    "That showed me we need to do something," said Hodgsen, who supports more use of wind power and expanding nuclear energy.

    Marc Scott, a farmer and school board member in Hallsburg in McLennan County, lives within just a few miles of four of the proposed new plants. He worries his family's health would suffer from air and water pollution.

    "We're at ground zero," Scott said. "It won't matter which way the wind blows."

    A coalition of business and energy interests recently bought more than $1 million in newspaper advertising to speak out against the coal plants and promote the rally. The Texas Clean Sky Coalition included at least one competitor of coal-fired plants - Chesapeake Energy Corp., a natural gas company in Oklahoma City.

    An airplane buzzing circles around the rally towed a sign saying "Face it, coal is filthy" which was the same slogan as the ad campaign.

    Other opponents of the plants include a coalition of 17 mayors whose cities are downwind of the plants, including Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and Houston Mayor Bill White.

    TXU spokesman Tom Kleckner said the coal plants would be cleaner than environmentalists fear.

    "These are not your grandfather's coal plants," Kleckner said as he surveyed the signs and listened to the speakers from the perimeter of the rally.

    "They'll burn 80 percent cleaner than today's coal plants," Kleckner said.

    "What's wrong with cleaner air?" said Phil Berry, who works at TXU's Big Brown mine in Fairfield, and stood with Kleckner at the rally.

    Opponents argued that cleaner isn't clean enough.

    Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of the Texas Office for Public Citizen, said the new coal plants may be cleaner than older ones but would still be major producers of greenhouses gases. Better, cleaner technology exists than the proposed coal plants, he said.

    "They may not be your grandfather's coal plants, but they're still you're father's coal plants," Smith said. "This would be a 50-year mistake."

    Critics contend the coal plan is driven by profits and accuse TXU of rushing to beat more stringent federal restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions.

    Perry spokesman Robert Black said Texas will face an energy crunch within the next two or three years because of population growth and surging demand.

    "The fact is, under Gov. Perry, our air is cleaner today then six years ago," Black said. "Texas is the national leader in renewable wind energy and we have taken significant steps to increase the use of renewable energy state wide and shut down dirty plants that don't meet tough standards."

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    Texas Baptists Oppose Coal Power Plants
    By Matt Curry
    The Associated Press

    Thursday 08 February 2007

But Southern Baptist Convention forbids environmental activism.

    Dallas - Texas Baptist leaders are working to block Republican Gov. Rick Perry's plan to speed the approval process for 18 new coal-fired power plants - an unusual move because the largest national Baptist organization officially opposes environmental activism.

    The Texans stress that they're not jumping into full-blown activism, avoiding high-profile marches and demonstrations, but even a small move toward environmentalism is significant.

    "This is cutting-edge stuff for Baptists - even moderate Baptists," said Bruce Gourley, associate director of the Center for Baptist Studies at Mercer University in Macon, Ga.

    Even though Christian evangelicals nationwide are making forays into environmentalism, using phrases such as "creation care," an informal survey by the Georgia center didn't turn up a single Baptist pastor who acknowledged giving a sermon about the environment in recent months.

    In Texas, the Christian Life Commission, the public policy agency of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, is mobilizing Baptists to oppose the coal-fired plants by urging members to contact legislators.

    "A lot of people felt like our industries, our policy leaders, are going to take care of these big issues like air quality; it's not going to be something our local people are going to have to get up every day and worry about," said Suzii Paynter, director of the commission. "It can't be left to big interests to make these decisions in our behalf."

    The Baptist convention, largest of the state conventions, with more than 2.3 million members, approved a resolution in November affirming "that we advocate for sound environmental policies in the public square."

    That runs counter to the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the country, with more than 16 million members, which adopted a resolution last summer denouncing environmental activism and warning that it was "threatening to become a wedge issue to divide the evangelical community."

    The moderate Texas group, which is autonomous but considers itself part of the Southern Baptist Convention, clashes frequently with the larger group's leadership.

    Paynter said Texas Baptists' involvement stems from heightened concern over how dirty air is affecting the health of church members.

    TXU Corp.'s coal proposal is on the fast track under an executive order Perry issued last year to expand the production of electricity and lower its cost. The company says the plants will meet growing demand for power, boost the economy of small towns and reduce toxic emissions by replacing older plants.

    But critics - including environmental organizations, a coalition of Texas cities and counties, and a group of influential Dallas business executives - contend that the company is driven by profits and is rushing to beat more stringent federal restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions.

    "I do not believe God wants us to continue to pollute and cause the world to degenerate the way it is," said Mary Darden, a Baptist deacon and president of Keep Waco Green.

    Darden, whose congregation is affiliated with the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, said the coal issue is rarely discussed at her church because members include power company employees. Sometimes people offer support in hushed tones, when she wishes they would "come out of the closet and help."

    Coal plant opponents have planned a "Stop the Coal Rush" rally on Sunday and a lobbying day Monday at the state Capitol. The two-day campaign is being organized by groups such as the Sierra Club - organizations conservative-minded Baptists may not be eager to support.

    But Paynter said the Texas Baptists, while not opposing the demonstrations, won't be involved.

    "I know environmentalists. They want to see a bunch of Christians marching on the Capitol," she said.

    "I don't really want to be seen as out there beating the drums to try to get people to the Capitol. We have a longer-term goal, which is about the stewardship of creation."