Comments Michael Noble has made

Last Coffin Nail for Convential Coal in Heartland?

The decision on Friday by the administrative law judges is well worth reading. Although the final say on Big Stone II belongs to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission appointed by Governor Tim Pawlenty in coming weeks, the judges say that if it were approved, that "would render statutory requirements meaningless."

The problem is cost. The central issue in hundreds of hours of testimony and expert witness documents is whether efficiency and renewable energy will be cheaper. The regulatory costs of carbon loom large, and largely unknown. As I have said, the utilities CEOs backing the plant seem to have the attitude about the cost of the power: "we don't know what it will cost, and we don't care, 'cause we ain't paying it, our customers will."

Key players in the victory (alphabetically):

Clean Up Our River Environment, Clean Water Action, Fresh Energy, Izaak Walton League (Midwest Office), Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Sierra Club Northstar Chapter (and national Coal Campaign), Union of Concerned Scientists, Wind on the Wires.

Michael Noble Executive Director Fresh Energy, Saint Paul, MN