Conservation Voters of South Carolina

Tag Archives: Conservation Voters of South Carolina

August 25, 2009 · 11:44 am

Santee Cooper Pulls Plug on Coal Plant

Dear Friends,

After two years of relentless efforts by Conservation Voters of South Carolina and our allies in the SCSaysNo campaign, we have achieved a monumental victory today for our children’s future and the future of our state.

The Santee Cooper Board of Directors voted UNANIMOUSLY this morning to SUSPEND efforts to permit and develop the Pee Dee coal plant. The Board also voted unanimously to defer a proposed 2010 rate hike. The Santee Cooper ! staff cited reasons that we’ve been repeating over the last two years: pending climate change legislation; a possible national renewable energy standard; fluctuations in financial markets; and the impact of the economic recession.
Your letters, your contributions and your support helped make this happen. Please join us in celebrating a great day for our state with a contribution in honor of this remarkable victory.

Click here to read the full story on TheState.com!

We commend Santee Cooper’s Board and staff for showing leadership in our country’s transition to clean energy. We also thank South Carolina’s electric coops for seeking alternatives and pursuing an ambitious energy efficiency program. Most of all, we wish to thank the countless volunteers and organizations who not only opposed the coal plant but also offered positive solutions.

Next steps? A federal climate bill to create a clean energy independent future. There is still time for action this year, but our Senators need to hear from you.

If you are interested in joining the “Clean Energy Works” campaign, please contact me directly at john@conservationvotersofsc.org or call 803-799-0716.

Click here to support our advocacy for a clean, healthy and safe South Carolina. Thank you for caring about clean air and clean water and sustainable living. This is an historic day for us and for future generations.

Sincerely,

John Ramsburgh

Climate and Energy Director

P.S. Make sure to join us and Congressman James Clyburn at the Environmental Policy Institute Lecture Series “Conquering Climate Change: New Opportunities, New Economies” on September 1st at SC State. Click here for more information!

Conservation Voters of South Carolina
701 Whaley Street, Suite 207
Columbia, SC 29201
www.conservationvotersofsc.org

BOMB PLANT NEWS | SRS Urgent: Aug. 18 meeting on SRS “energy park” – pls attend!!

From Tom Clements:

Your presence will be needed for an August 18 meeting on the future uses of land at the Savannah River Site!

The meeting on an SRS “energy park” will be held on Tuesday, August 18, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the N. Augusta, SC municipal building. This is when future uses of the site will be discussed, including for reprocessing, spent fuel storage, nuclear reactors and other dirty missions, as well as for other clean options.

At the August 18 meeting will be Mark Gilbertson, from Department of Energy (DOE) headquarters. He is the one who in March urged contractors to pursue spent fuel storage and reprocessing for an SRS “energy park.” Many have written letters to Energy Secretary Steven Chu about what he [Gilbertson] said and in his response he totally distanced himself from what he had said (and I heard). On August 18, we need to keep up the pressure of him and other contractors who have been trying to make decisions on an “energy park” in secret and without public input.

August 18 will be the public’s chance to have input into the “energy park” concept. Community environmentalists are seeking to have as many members of the public in attendance as possible as the booster groups (SRS Community Reuse Organization, Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness) will likely be there in force.

We really need to get the public to this meeting so PLEASE mark your calendars. The time is tentative but more info will follow when it’s finalized.

Stay tuned but please plan on attending on August 18.

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SRS Education

From Bob Alvarez:

Here’s are a couple maps I put together a few years back that shows: (1) that SRS is near the epicenter of one of the most destructive earthquakes in U.S. history — not a good place to store the world’s largest inventory of mercury, much less the nation’s single largest concentration of high-level radioactive wastes; and (2) SRS sits atop the primary drinking water aquifer of the Southeastern Coastal Plain. (see below)
Damage Intensity Map High-level radio active waste