News and Action

May 3, 2007

- H1825, The Bill of a Movement

Landmark legislation needs amendment, massive show of public support, now.

- Take the WNC Residential Energy Survey (about 15 minutes)

Help compile important data in the fight against new power plant construction

- 2007 Relay for Clean Air in Planning Stages

- June 10 Benefit for the Environment at the Grey Eagle in Asheville

- Duke Energy's Cliffside Power Plant Hearing, May 31, in Rutherford County

- Canary Coalition Uncovers Buncombe Public Disclosure Findings

2nd "wave" of records received after Attorney General contacts County

- Membership Renewal Reminder

H1825, The Bill of a Movement

Write, call or visit  your district's state legislators to demand passage of H1825 amended as described in this email message. It's also important to contact members of the House Committees on Public Utilities and Appropriations where the bill is currently being considered.

In North Carolina, H1825, the Energy Future Bill, has the potential to be one of the most important pieces of environmental legislation to come forward anywhere in the country in decades. This legislation deserves the support of everyone with an environmental consciousness and your state representatives need to be contacted now. The bill as introduced in its current form needs to be amended to have meaningful impact, but if we produce a groundswell of support for the amended version it will result in substantial reductions in energy use, greenhouse gases and air pollution from North Carolina generating sources, unlike other pending measures which are largely smoke and mirrors.

H1825 is based on the Energy Future Resolution circulated during the eight-state Energy at the Crossroads Tour and passed by Democratic Party precincts, County and District Conventions throughout the state of North Carolina in 2006. The resolution calls for a comprehensive study, paid for with state funding, to determine the "least cost" method of meeting future energy demand, including the real and total costs to public health, the costs of environmental impact, the cost of full fuel cycles, the cost of waste handling and the cost of decommissioning of power plants. The study, performed under the authority of the Utilities Commission, would also include a determination and implementation of a restructuring of public utility rates to offer a meaningful economic incentive to ratepayers to invest in energy efficiency, conservation, off-peak power usage shifting and renewable energy technologies.

To date, cost comparisons by state authorities used to determine "least-cost" methods for meeting power demand have focused solely on construction costs of generating sources without consideration of health or environmental impact. Health and environmental impact costs have been labeled "external costs" and set aside to be ignored. But, these costs are only "external" from the perspective of utility company stock holders. To the rest of us they are simply costs, and very real costs. The costs of monthly health insurance premiums, for instance, typically far out-weigh the monthly utility bill. Air pollution from coal-burning power plants is the principle cause of the epidemic of respiratory and pulmonary disease, which in turn comprises the largest burden on our health care system, causing the cost of health care and health care insurance to rise dramatically.

Likewise, economic incentives for using less energy and shifting energy use to "off-peak" hours has never been evaluated by state authorities in cost-comparison to building and operating new power plants.

A comprehensive study including these factors will almost certainly reveal that policies promoting the use of clean, safe renewable resources in combination with economic incentives for ratepayer investment in energy efficiency and conservation will be much more cost-effective than building a new generation of polluting fossil fuel and/or nuclear power plants.

While the important study by the Utility Commission remains in H1825 and is funded by $95,000, unfortunately, when H1825 was drafted and introduced into the House this year several key elements of the Energy Future Resolution were removed for what was perceived as political expediency. The Energy Future Resolution that garnered massive public support called for a prohibition on licensing the construction of power plants not meeting "least-cost" criteria as determined by the Utility Commission's study, including the costs of health and environmental impact, full fuel cycles, waste management and decommissioning. The resolution also mandates rate-restructuring to provide economic incentives for efficiency and conservation. But, these key elements are lacking in the legislation as introduced. In order for this legislation to have meaningful impact we have to inform our representatives, now, that we want the enforcement elements to be re-instated.

Join in the campaign to pass this monumental piece of legislation with the strongest and most meaningful language intact. If we succeed, North Carolina will become the first state to come to grips with the issues surrounding climate change and air pollution on a realistic scale, reflecting the urgency of the climate crisis we are facing. Write, call, email or visit your elected state representatives and tell them to pass H1825 amended to include a prohibition of licensing new power plants that don't meet least-cost criteria, including the costs of health and environmental impact, full fuel cycles, waste management and decommissioning. The bill also needs amendment to include a mandated rate-restructuring to promote rate-payer investment in efficiency, conservation, peak-demand shifting and renewable energy technologies.

Write, call or visit  your district's state legislators to demand passage of H1825 amended as described in this email message. It's also important to contact members of the House Committees on Public Utilities and Appropriations where the bill is currently being considered.

Rise and shine everyone. We can do this.

2007 Relay for Clean Air in Planning Stages

The 2007 Relay for Clean Air will be on Friday, August 17- Saturday August 18.  We are beginning to sign up volunteers and participants for this year's major Clean Air media event.

The Relay is an annual 24-hour, 100 mile civil rights march for clean air from the Tennessee-North Carolina border at Newfound Gap in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, along the Blue Park Parkway to downtown Asheville, NC.

We all have the right to breathe clean air and what better way to demand it than by walking, running and biking in the most visited and most polluted National Parks in the country during this high-profile national media event.

If you want to be involved email the Canary Coalition.

Join us at the Grey Eagle on June 10th!
June 10th @
The Grey Eagle
starting at 3pm
Fresh Air Bands

* Bow Thayer

* Woody Wood

* Dave Desmelik

* Pierce Edens

* John Brannen

* Jerrods Door

* Tennessee Hollow

* Adlin and Appleford

* Johnny's Inhaler

* Andrew Wakefield


Fresh Air Benefit

Please be our guest at the Grey Eagle for a green-friendly benefit. We will have live music and guest speakers gathering for your entertainment to raise awareness and provide support to help fight serious environmental issues right here in Asheville.

Proceeds for this event will benefit the following non-profit organizations:

The Canary Coalition

Western North Carolina Green Building Council

Environmental Defense

Come on out and join us!

Tribe Management, Inc.

Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck

When it comes to music with deep roots, Bow Thayer delivers the real thing. A founding member of critically acclaimed acts such as 7 League Boots and The Benders, Thayer's music bares the battle scars of a personal musical journey that has included tours of duty fronting every genre from punk to reggae, bluegrass to delta blues.
www.bowthayer.com

Woody Wood
"Aaron "Woody" Wood's background is as diverse as his music. Woody converges elements from all walks of life to present music that contains a sense of familiarity like no other. One look at the long list of artists he has shared the stage with exemplifies his diversity, not to mention respect from his musical peers. From Jimmy Martin to Leon Russel, R.L. Burnside to Warren Haynes, Woody has played and learned from those who have helped shape music into what it is today.

Dave Desmelik and the Hillbilly Cadavers

Dave Desmelik has established himself as an accomplished and rising singer/songwriter whose music might best be described as Americana or Alt/Country. Drawing upon influences from country to bluegrass to blues to rock n' roll, Desmelik writes and performs a unique blend of songs.
www.davedesmelik.com

Pierce Edens and the Dirty Work
As a singer/songwriter, Pierce Edens has quickly established himself in the musical hotbed of Asheville, NC; earning such accolade as to warrant comparisons to the likes of some of the most influential songwriters this side of the century.
www.pierceedens.com

John Brannen
Oftentimes sounding like a vocal brother of Bruce Springsteen and "Americana's" Steve Earle, Brannen's music isn't unlike these guys either. It's the type of rock that AAA radio adores these days along with being the type of "mainstream" rock that many bands had hits with in the 80s-early 90s.
www.johnbrannen.com

Jerrods Door
Jerrods Door is best described as Psychadelic Tribal World Music... They incorporate such tribal instruments as the African Djembe and the Aboriginal Dijeridoo, together with some soulful, psychadelic rock n' roll. 

Tennessee Hollow
Humbling & rhythmic Folk and deep wooded blues mixed with pounding rhythms defines a new palate of rock. Bottle neck slide guitar and finger picking blues style with rough & soulful singing.
www.tennesseehollow.net

Adlin and Appleford
Adlin & Appleford's music winds through the Blue Ridge mountains to Memphis, from the Delta to Dixie, and Beale Street to Bourbon Street. Bluesy vocals and a gritty brew of acoustic and electric music are stirred into songs that each have their own flavor.

Johnny's Inhaler
All local, accomplished
musicians, these guys met through Asheville's thriving music scene. They produce a good ol' fashioned rootsy-blues sound. 

Andrew Wakefield
Soulful singer/songwriter with exceptional guitar skills. This kid is coming up fast in the Asheville music scene!

Green Education
In addition to the great music, food, and local brew, there will be representatives from each of the non-profit organizations on hand to provide our guests with viable solutions to pressing environmental issues.

Tribe Managment. Inc
101 Fairview Rd. #B
Asheville, North Carolina 28803
828 545 4841

The Grey Eagle
185 Clingman Ave
Asheville, NC 28801
www.thegreyeagle.com

www.tribemanagement.net
$3.00
OFF
suggested donation
($15.00)

Print this cut-out and present it at the door for $3.00 off the suggested donation. Proceeds from ticket sales will be distributed between artists and non-profits, and will be used to underwrite the cost of said event.

Fresh Air Benefit -- Sunday, June 10th -- The Grey Eagle

Offer Expires: June 10th, 2007

Canary Coalition Releases Buncombe Public Disclosure Findings

2nd "wave" of records received after Attorney General contacts County

"Lease Option" signed with Progress Energy in March, 2005 without proper authority.

After ignoring legal obligations under the Public Disclosure Law and denying the existence of records other than the few documents released when the Canary Coalition made a formal request in January, Buncombe County released a second "wave" of records in March to the non-profit Clean Air advocacy organization.  The second release came only after numerous letters and visits from both the group's Executive Director, Avram Friedman, and its attorney, Rachel Doughty, and after the county was contacted by the Attorney General's office.

"There was reason for the County's reluctance to release the records it was withholding," explains Friedman.  "Among the documents delivered on March 11, was a lease-option agreement on the land adjacent to the Woodfin landfill, with Progress Energy, signed by County Manager Wanda Greene, dated March 9, 2005, previously undisclosed to the public.  The County Manager does not have the legal authority to sign a lease-option without a formal decision by the County Commission to do so.  Yet, there is no record of the Commissioners voting at a public meeting to give her this authority.  There was no public hearing on the matter in 2005, as required by law.   There was no public notice posted in the newspaper to inquire about competitive offers as required by law.  Therefore, either the County Manager is responsible for taking improper authority in signing the lease-option, or there was a private,  unannounced meeting of the Commissioners in which there was a vote taken to grant her the authority, in violation of the Open Meetings Law.  In addition, since this lease-option was an integral part of the process that resulted in the Commissioners granting the final lease, the validity of the entire legal process is now in question in regards to the Progress Energy lease of the Woodfin property."

"Despite the fact the town of Woodfin has refused a Conditional Use Permit for Progress Energy to build the diesel-oil burning electrical generating plant," continues Friedman, "the issue of the land-lease is still alive and important because the lease doesn't restrict Progress from using the land for some other purpose, such as dumping highly toxic waste ash from its Lake Julian coal-burning facility.   It's also possible for Progress to try again to build the plant in a few years if future elections in Woodfin change the political landscape in that town.  So, it's important for the people of Buncombe County to make sure the lease is officially terminated.  I don't think anyone can justify allowing Progress Energy to maintain a one-dollar-a-year lease of valuable county property if they aren't paying the tax revenues that were supposedly going to materialize from the power plant."

"On Thursday (April 26), when County Attorney Joe Connolly was asked about the status of the land lease, he was evasive and refused to comment," Friedman says. "He said he was currently immersed in issues revolving around the new zoning ordinance and couldn't focus on the Woodfin issue.  He also refused to inform me of the process that would be necessary to make the decision about whether or not to nullify the land-lease contract.  Whose decision is it?  The Commissioners?  The County Attorney's?  The County Manager's?  Again he refused to answer citing his involvement with zoning issues.  Asked if he could tell me when he would be available to answer these questions he said, 'No, I could not.' Apparently the people of Buncombe County don't have the right to know.  When I called the County Manager's office to ask these questions I was informed that all questions about the Woodfin land-lease will be directed to the County Attorney."

"In February, the Canary Coalition contacted the North Carolina Attorney General's office, presented them with its evidence against the County, and asked the State to get involved by investigating legal wrong-doing in Buncombe in relation to the Woodfin land lease to Progress Energy.  The Attorney General's office responded by sending a packet of information to the Canary Coalition informing the organization of its rights under the Public Disclosure and Open Meetings Laws.  The Canary Coalition had no indication of the Attorney General's direct involvement until a meeting with the County Attorney, in April, at which Joe Connolly complained that the Canary Coalition and the Attorney General were costing Buncombe County 'thousands of dollars' with their records requests," says Friedman.

A detailed letter from the Canary Coalition's Attorney to the County Attorney's office, outlining the legal issues, can be  viewed at www.canarycoalition.org/canary/ltrcty.doc

A copy of the lease-option agreement, dated March 9, 2005, can be obtained upon request by emailing info@canarycoalition.org  (3.5 megabytes).

 Duke Energy's Cliffside Power Plant Hearing

May 31 in Rutherford County

Public hearing on air permit revision for Duke power plant in Rutherford County
The North Carolina Division of Air Quality will hold a public hearing on an air quality permit revision for a new coal-fired boiler at the Duke Cliffside plant in Rutherford County at 6 p.m. on May 31 at Chase High School. 1603 Chase High School Road in Forest City.

Duke Energy Carolinas has applied for an air permit modification to construct and operate a new 800-megawatt boiler at its Cliffside Steam Station, 573 Duke Power Road, in Rutherford County. Duke previously had applied for a permit to build two new boilers at Cliffside, but amended its application after the state Utilities Commission approved only one additional unit at the plant.

Under the permit, Duke must demonstrate that it can comply with state and federal rules for controlling particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, visible emissions, volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants. The plant would use state-of-the-art air pollution control devices, including a wet scrubber, electrostatic precipitators and a selective catalytic reduction system. Other permit conditions require the facility operators to:

- Monitor air pollution control equipment.

- Conduct periodic stack testing of emissions from recovery furnaces and boilers annually.

- Operate continuous emission monitors for nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and visible emissions.

The draft permit may be viewed online at http://daq.state.nc.us/cgi-bin/perm_draftrev.cgi

or at the following locations: Haynes Branch Library, Henrietta; DAQ Asheville Regional Office, 2090 U.S. Highway 70, Swannanoa, phone (828) 296-4500; and the DAQ Central Office, Permits Section, Parker Lincoln Building, 2728 Capital Blvd., Raleigh, phone (919) 715-6255.

Membership Renewal Reminder

If you have not already done so, please renew your annual membership with the CanaryCoalition and help keep the database updated with your most recent contact information. There is no mandatory annual membership fee, although all donations are gratefully accepted (and very much needed). Average individual member donations are about $35. Businesses about $100. 

 All new and renewing members receive the interactive membership computer CD. The membership CD is a powerful tool that aids its owner in being a clean-air activist. It contains a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation about air quality issues and the Canary Coalition that can be shown to friends, groups, classrooms, etc. Also on the membership CD is a library of documents containing information about important air quality issues. There are also graphics for iron-on applications, printable membership forms and a link to the Canary Coalition website. 

We will also include a bumper sticker for any renewal that includes a donation.

Send updated contact information and donations to:

The Canary Coalition

PO Box 653

Sylva, NC 28779

or you can donate online

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