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Greenaction Statement on Health, Clean Energy and Environmental Justice See Also: 1/7/03 SF Bay Guardian's editorial on the peaker power plant controversy and publication of Greenaction statement Read more about campaigns for Green Energy
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New Fossil Fuel Peaker Power Plants for San Francisco? Health, Clean Energy and Environmental Justice Must Be the Priority By Bradley
Angel, Executive Director of Greenaction for Health and Environmental
Justice San Francisco is at a turning point regarding energy policies that impact our health and environment. San Francisco will either continue relying on fossil fuel power plants that harm public health and the environment, or we will implement renewable energy, conservation and efficiency programs. Actions, not words and promises, are needed. In the coming months we face a possible new health threat - and a new opportunity to eliminate the outdated and dirty PG&E and Mirant power plants. Under a settlement reached with Williams Energy, one of the power companies accused of price gouging during the so-called "energy crisis," San Francisco is being given four 50 megawatt gas-fired power plants. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the City's Southeast neighborhoods are being targeted for the siting of these four fossil fuel power plants. Historically San Francisco has relied on two polluting fossil fuel power plants located in the City's Southeast, the PG&E Hunters Point plant and Mirant's Potrero plant. Bayview-Hunters Point and Potrero residents have suffered as a result of these power plants and other dirty industries being located disproportionately in their neighborhoods. This environmental racism and injustice has resulted in high rates of asthma and cancer among the mostly low-income residents living near these industrial sites. We need energy programs that protect the health of our communities. In December the Board of Supervisors approved a City Electricity Plan that calls for increased renewable energy and conservation - and endorses the important goal of closing both the PG&E and Mirant power plants. Residents of Bayview Hunters Point have heard similar "goals" and promises before: the supposed deal struck by Mayor Willie Brown and PG&E to close the Hunters Point plant was never fulfilled, and PG&E is now seeking a new five year Clean Air Act permit that would continue the pollution and injustice into the future. Before the City makes a decision on where to place the four new fossil fuel peaker plants, the following steps are essential to ensuring a just and safe energy program: First, the outdated and unnecessary PG&E Hunters Point power plant must be closed by the end of 2003 and dismantled. The plant must be placed on idle immediately, and run only for short term emergencies to avoid blackouts. The PG&E plant was closed for several months last year, and there were no brownouts or blackouts. The Governor and the California "Independent System Operator" must announce their approval of the closure of the PG&E plant, and this must be a condition of siting any new peaker plants. The proposed expansion of the Mirant plant must also be stopped. Second, strong and mandatory conservation and energy efficiency programs must be implemented for large businesses and industries - and these requirements must be added into the City Electricity Plan that neglected to incorporate such common-sense requirements. Look at the San Francisco skyline at night and you can see the closed office buildings blazing with light, the production of which is contributing to the very high asthma rates among children in Bayview Hunters Point. Third, the new peaker power plants should not be sited in the neighborhoods in Southeast San Francisco as residents there have borne the burden of hosting the polluting power plants for decades. Any final location must minimize the threat to public health and environment. Fourth, the City must conduct a thorough public review with public hearings and a comprehensive environmental impact report to analyze the pros and cons of proposed locations for the new peakers. Downtown locations such as the PG&E substation on Jessie Street and the Embarcadero should be studied first, and the neighborhoods that have suffered for decades should be avoided. Fifth, the new fossil fuel peaker plants should not be placed anywhere unless proven to be safe and proven to be truly needed to provide reliable energy for the City. If approved, these peakers should be used only as a temporary measure to allow installation of large scale solar and wind power systems and truly effective conservation and efficiency measures - and the closure of both the PG&E and Mirant power plants. |