Not Just for Stockings Anymore

Plans for coal plants in Texas, Kansas fueling opposition from all sides

As U.S. utilities try to keep pace with the energy-sucking public, they're planning 150 new coal-fired plants. But with coal plants already causing a third of the nation's carbon dioxide emissions, critics are emerging from all corners. A heated battle in Texas over TXU Corp.'s plans for 11 new plants has inspired a hunger strike, an anti-coal coalition of 17 mayors, and now a group of 20 Dallas execs called Texas Business for Clean Air. "We think the plan ... is being crammed down our throats," said business exec David Litman. But TXU is unmoved: "We're finding it hard to believe that this group ... represents the business leadership of the whole state," said TXU spokesbeeyotch Kim Morgan. In Kansas, plans for three plants that could emit 18 million tons of carbon a year are firing up foes in Colorado and the Northeast, with several states sending a letter of protest this week saying climate change is "the single greatest environmental challenge facing the world today." Oh, that old saw.