HomeMy WebLinkAbout254-08 RESOLUTIONRESOLUTION NO. 254-08
A RESOLUTION AGAINST THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW COAL-FIRED
POWER PLANTS
WHEREAS, the week of December 8-15, 2008 is being recognized as Local
Climate Action Week by communities across the United States; and
WHEREAS, the United Nations Intemational Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states
that warning of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of
increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and
rising global average sea level; and
WHEREAS, the IPCC states that carbon dioxide from the use of fossil fuels is the
primary contributor to global climate change; and
WHEREAS, the United States is responsible for 25 percent of global greenhouse gas
emissions, and carbon dioxide from coal plants make up forty percent of the United States' total
greenhouse gas emissions; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Energy states that energy efficient choices can save
the average American household about one-third on their energy bill with similar savings of
greenhouse gas emissions, without sacrificing features, style or comfort, while offsetting the
need for dozens of the proposed coal plants around the country; and
WHEREAS, three coal-fired power plants have been proposed along the Arkansas -
Oklahoma border and one is currently being constructed in Hempstead County, Arkansas; and
WHEREAS, a majority of the electricity used by the City of Fayetteville and its
residents is produced in coal-fired generating plants; and
WHEREAS, the City of Fayetteville wishes to protect its citizens by ensuring clean and
affordable electricity is available to every household and business; and
WHEREAS, the American Council for an Energy -Efficient Economy ranked Arkansas
45th in energy efficiency; and
WHEREAS, the City recognizes that energy efficiency complements existing policies
related to development and natural resources conservation; including solid waste and recycling
policies, City Plan 2025, and the Hillside/Hilltop Overlay District; and
WHEREAS, the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas supports sustainable development by
encouraging the expansion of energy efficient building practices.
Page 2
Res. 254-08
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS•
Section 1: That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby supports an
administrative or regulatory moratorium on the construction of new coal-fired power plants in
Arkansas and requests that cost-effective energy efficiency improvements be required and
prioritized before new plant construction.
PASSED and APPROVED this 16th day of December, 2008.
APPROVED: ATTEST:
By:
D N COODY, Mayor
0
Clerk/Treasurer
RESOLUTION NO.
A RESOLUTION AGAINST THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW
COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS
WHEREAS, the week of Decemt
Climate Action Week by communities acro.
WHEREAS, the United Nations Ii
that warming of the climate system is ur
increases in global average air and ocean tc
rising global average sea level; and
WHEREAS, the IPCC states that!
primary contributor to global climate chang
WHEREAS, the United States is
emissions, and carbon dioxide from coal pl
greenhouse gas emissions; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Department o
the average American household about on
greenhouse gas emissions, without sacrific
need for dozens of the proposed coal plants
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WHEREAS, three coal-fired pow( t rkansas-
Oklahoma border and one is currently being 1 ; and
WHEREAS, a majority of the eh ! and its
residents is produced in coal-fired generating
WHEREAS, the City of Fayetteville wishes to protect its citizens by ensuring clean and
affordable electricity is available to every household and business; and
WHEREAS, the American Council for an Energy -Efficient Economy ranked Arkansas
45th in energy efficiency; and
WHEREAS, the City recognizes that energy efficiency complements existing policies
related to development and natural resources conservation; including solid waste and recycling
policies, City Plan 2025, and the Hillside/Hilltop Overlay District; and
WHEREAS, the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas supports sustainable development by
encouraging the expansion of energy efficient building practices.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS:
Section 1: That the City Council of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas hereby supports an
administrative or regulatory moratorium on the construction of new coal-fired power plants in
Arkansas and requests that cost-effective energy efficiency improvements be required and
prioritized before new plant construction.
PASSED and APPROVED this 16th day of December, 2008.
APPROVED: ATTEST:
By: By:
DAN GOODY, Mayor SONDRA E SMITH, City Clerk/Treasurer
Proposal Ties Economic Stimulus to Energy Plan - NYTimes.com Page 1 of 4
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nytirnes.com
December 4, 2008
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Proposal Ties Economic Stimulus to Energy Plan
By JOHN M. BRODER
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama and leaders in Congress are fashioning a plan
to pour billions of dollars into a jobs program to jolt the economy and lay the groundwork for a
more eneigy-efficient one
The details and cost of the so-called green jobs program are still unclear, but a senior Obama
aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a work in progress, said it would
probably include the weatherizing of hundreds of thousands of homes, the installation of
"smart meters" to monitor and reduce home energy use, and billions of dollars in grants to
state and local governments for mass transit and infrastructure projects.
The green component of the much larger stimulus plan would cost at least $15 billion a year,
and perhaps considerably more, depending on how the projects were defined, aides working on
the package said.
During the campaign, Mr. Obama supported a measure to address global warming by capping
carbon emissions while allowing companies to buy and trade pollution permits. He said he
would devote $150 billion of the revenue from the sale of those permits over 10 years to energy
efficiency and alternative energy projects to wean the nation from fuels that are the main
causes of the heating the atmosphere.
But the Obama adviser who discussed the green energy project said Mr. Obama would not
await passage of a global warming bill before embarking on the new energy and infrastructure
spending. House and Senate supporters of a climate bill said they would continue working on
legislative language but did not expect quick action on a cap -and -trade law because of the
economic emergency.
That means that the green -jobs program would not be financed with pollution credits bought
by power generators and other carbon emitters, but instead would be added to the budget
deficit.
Congressional officials working with the Obama administration said the stimulus program was
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/us/politics/04green.html?_r=1 &ref=politics&pagewa... 12/8/2008
Proposal Ties Economic Stimulus to Energy Plan - NYTimes com
Page 2 of 4
also likely to involve tax breaks or direct government subsidies for a variety of clean energy
projects, including solar arrays, wind farms, advanced biofuels and technology to capture
carbon dioxide emissions from coal -burning power plants
The programs will be a part of a larger economic stimulus package whose outlines are faint but
which is expected to cost $400 billion to $500 billion. Mr. Obama has said that his goal is to
create or save 2.5 million jobs in the next two years. He has assigned to his economic and
environmental advisers the task of devising a proposal that is expected to combine a shot of
new federal money into existing federal and state programs and the possible creation of
agencies modeled on New Deal public works programs.
"We'll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing
schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels, fuel-efficient
cars and the alternative energy technologies that can free us from our dependence on foreign
oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead," Mr. Obama said in a radio address
last month, echoing a campaign promise with a new sense of urgency.
The political climate seems favorable to an economic stimulus plan, but large sums of new
money touch off lobbying frenzies and energy projects spur debate between conservationists
and those who want to more fully exploit domestic sources of oil, natural gas and coal
Some experts said the record of government's intervention in energy markets and new
technologies was not promising, citing as.a spectacular example the Carter -era Synthetic Fuels
Corporation, which spent more than $3 billion without producing any commercially usable
amount of coal -based liquid fuel.
Ethanol and other non -oil-based fuels have also not proved their commercial value, in some
cases yielding less energy than was needed to produce them, or, in ethanol's case, diverting
land to corn and driving up food prices.
The plan could also face resistance from fiscal hawks. In 2004, Senator John McCain,
Republican of Ai izona, almost single-handedly blocked a $100 billion energy package, saying
the billions of dollars in subsidies for ethanol and other alternative fuels were little more than a
special-interest boondoggle. The bill was revived a year later at half the cost, and much of the
money in it has not been spent.
"Now they're talking about some large amount of money — what, $>.00 billion? — and spending
it on windmills, job training, whatever," said David Kreutzer, who studies energy economics
and climate change at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research group. "But where do
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/us/politics/04green.html?_r=1 &ref=politics&pagewa... 12/8/2008
Proposal Ties Economic Stimulus to Energy Plan - NYTimes .com
Page 3 of 4
you get the $ioo billion in the first place? Are you going to take $ioo billion from some other
part of the economy, are you going to tax some people to pay for it? Are you just going to print
it or borrow it? The money has to come from somewhere."
The Obama team and Congressional leaders say they want a plan ready shortly after Congress
reconvenes in January.
Mr. Obama has said that, after stabilizing the economy and the markets, putting the nation on
the path to a more energy-efficient future is his top priority. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi
of California, said this week that rebuilding infrastructure and creating green jobs was "the first
order of business that we will have" when Congress reconvenes in January. Several hearings
are planned even before Mr. Obama takes office on Jan. 20.
State officials say a lack of financing has stalled billions of dollars in projects. Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger of California told Mr. Obama this week that the states were ready to break
ground with $136 billion in infrastructure projects that could provide new jobs within two
years.
The American Public Transportation Association, which represents local mass transit
authorities, said there were $8 billion in "ready -to -go" projects that could preserve or create
thousands of jobs and provide more energy-efficient transportation.
Beverly A. Scott, the chief executive of Atlanta's transit agency and head of the national
association, told Congress in October that the projects included diesel-electric hybrid buses for
Chicago; a new bus maintenance shop for Eugene, Ore.; and a set of crossover tracks to allow
San Francisco's rapid transit trains to turn around more quickly and carry more riders.
The Obama aide said the residential smart meters were a relatively small project that would
not create a large number of fobs, but the aide said they would be an essential building block
for the electric grid of the future. The new grid — a multiyear, multibillion -dollar project —
would more efficiently move electricity from its source to its destination and would reward
those who saved power or used it during off-peak hours.
Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, who heads the Energy and Natural
Resources Committee, said he was sympathetic to Mr. Obama's desire to pump up the
economy and reduce energy usage. But Mr. Bingaman said he was wary of big government
spending programs without sufficient oversight or expertise
"Just buying smart meters for everybody doesn't really move the ball very far," said Mr.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/ 12/04/us/politics/04green.html?_r=1 &ref=politics&pagewa... 12/8/2008
Proposal Ties Economic Stimulus to Energy Plan - NYTimes.com
Page 4 of 4
Bmgaman, who will hold a hearing next week to gather ideas for energy-related stimulus
spending. "Realistically speaking, getting money properly spent in a short period of time
requires some degree of competence in the government agency doing it. The best plan is to
start with existing programs that work, like weatherization, and build on those."
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/us/politics/04green.html'?_r 1&ref=politics&pagewa... 12/8/2008
Clarice Pearman - Res. 254-08
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To:
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CC:
Attachments:
Clarice Pearman
Goody, Dan
12.19.08 5:38 PM
Res. 254-08
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Page 1 of 1
Mayor Coody:
Attached is a copy of the above resolution passed by City Council. Please let me know if there is anything else needed for this
item. Have a good day.
Thanks.
Clarice
file://C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\cpearman.000\Local%20Settings\Temp\XPgrpwise\494BDC2D... 12.19.08