The end of the coal era, the beginning of a cleaner era
The final plant closures in New England will bring us that much closer to a critical goal: the closure of all the coal plants in the United States by 2030. The Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign has achieved remarkable results, including the retirement of over 70 percent of US coal plants and the planned closures of all coal plants in the US by 2030. The campaign has prevented tens of thousands of heart attacks and asthma attacks, avoiding billions in health care costs, and saving thousands of lives. The final plant closures in New England will make New England the nation’s second region and the largest by population to remove coal smoke. The Sierra Club urges the federal government to set stricter national rules on clean clean air and public health, and urges delay without official delay from the Environmental Protection Agency. Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and former White House adviser, and Gina McCarthy, are the co-chair of the All Is America Is.
Published : a month ago by Michael R. Bloomberg and Gina McCarthy in Environment
Massachusetts, where we both grew up, has already closed its “Filthy Five” coal-fired power plants . Now, the last coal plants in the region — Merrimack Station in Bow and Schiller Station in Portsmouth, both in New Hampshire — are closing, which will make New England the nation’s second region — and the largest, by population — to consign coal smoke to history (the Pacific Northwest was first). And New England won’t be the last.
Last week, New England passed a major energy milestone. An agreement to close the last coal plants in the region means all of New England will be free of coal pollution for the first time in well over a century.
The burning of coal for energy has been poisoning our air and water and making people sick since the Industrial Revolution. It’s also the single largest contributor to climate change, responsible for one-third of global carbon emissions. So the work being done to move the United States from coal to clean energy couldn’t be more urgent or important — or exciting to celebrate.
The final plant closures in New England will bring us that much closer to a critical goal: the closure of all coal plants in the United States by 2030.
A decade ago, new coal plants were still opening. Opposing them was a political third rail. A cap-and-trade bill, which would have incentivized companies to reduce their emissions, had failed to get 60 votes in the Senate.
Many people thought that congressional inaction meant the end of US leadership on climate change. But we refused to believe that — and we refused to let politics get in the way of clean air and climate progress.
The original goal of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign was to retire one-third of US coal plants by 2020. We supported that campaign and that goal was met early, so the campaign expanded its goal. The goal was met again. And expanded again.
Through years of hard work in the courts, in elections, and on the ground with grass-roots partners, the Beyond Coal campaign has achieved extraordinary results. It has helped secure the retirement of more than 70 percent of US coal plants. In New England alone, retiring the region’s eight operating coal plants has accomplished the equivalent of taking more than 3 million fossil fuel-burning cars off the road.
In addition, those coal plant closures — and planned closures — account for over 80 percent of all US reductions in carbon emissions since 2010. It’s been one of the most successful campaigns in the history of the modern environmental movement and one of the most successful public health campaigns, too. Data show that the campaign has prevented tens of thousands of heart attacks and asthma attacks, avoiding billions in health care costs. And it has saved thousands of lives.
Now that wind and solar energy cost less than coal, keeping coal plants going doesn’t make sense for our pocketbooks, our health, or our climate. And old coal plants, which are already wired into the power grid, can often be repurposed into renewable energy plants, as the CEO of the two New Hampshire sites has pledged to do.
For example, Massachusetts went coal free when Somerset’s Brayton Point power plant was retired in 2017. Brayton Point was New England’s largest coal plant and had been operating since the 1960s. With the right infrastructure already in place, the site is now set to host the Commonwealth’s first offshore wind generator project. It will deliver clean power and good-paying jobs to the region for many decades to come.
The Beyond Coal campaign is now racing to finish the job of making every region of the country coal-pollution free — and powering the next great economic revolution with clean energy. Plenty of dominoes are ready to fall. Four states have only two coal plants remaining. Six more states — including deep-red Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi — have just one coal plant each.
As states kick coal and keep their commitments to a clean energy transition, we urge the federal government to act as well. The Environmental Protection Agency is nearing the end of a years-long process to set stronger national limits on coal pollution. Those rules will help ensure that more communities can breathe clean and healthy air, and given their pressing importance to public health, the Biden administration should make them official without delay.
Moving off coal is the right step for New England’s health, economy, and future climate — and that can help people everywhere breathe a little easier.
Michael R. Bloomberg is the founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies and the UN secretary-general’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions. Gina McCarthy is the managing cochair of America Is All In and served as the first White House national climate adviser and 13th US Environmental Protection Agency administrator.