Sohn: Local, market leaders know we can't wait on Washington

FILE - In this July 2018 file photo, a coal-fired power plant is silhouetted against the morning sun in Glenrock, Wyoming. The Trump administration on Wednesday rolled back a landmark Obama-era effort targeting coal-fired power plants and their climate-damaging pollution. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)
FILE - In this July 2018 file photo, a coal-fired power plant is silhouetted against the morning sun in Glenrock, Wyoming. The Trump administration on Wednesday rolled back a landmark Obama-era effort targeting coal-fired power plants and their climate-damaging pollution. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)

Amid scientists' increasingly urgent climate warnings, the Trump administration on Wednesday ordered the easing of restrictions on coal-fired power plants - all under the disingenuous prediction that the move would revitalize America's sagging coal industry.

Meanwhile in Chattanooga, city and airport officials celebrated the completion of a solar farm that makes Lovell Field the nation's first airport to produce enough energy to supply all of its daily power needs. How much power is that, exactly? Enough electricity to power 160,000 light bulbs was one example offered by Airport Authority Chairman Dan Jacobson.

The $10 million, three-phase project that started at the airport in 2010 created a 2.64-megawatt solar farm. The energy made there is sold to TVA and then taken off of the airport's EPB power bill. Federal Aviation Administration grants funded 90 percent of the project, and Lovell Field invested the remaining $1 million. Now instead of paying for electricity, the revenue generated by the solar farm will help the airport hold down other fees.

But the airport's sun farm is but one of the largest solar plants in Hamilton County. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee plans to begin next month installing the first of about 10,000 solar panels atop its five major office and parking facilities on Cameron Hill. But BlueCross' $10 million, 4.3 megawatt solar power plant still will take a backseat to Volkswagen's $30 million solar farm beside its Enterprise South assembly plant. VW built its sun plant in 2012 to generate up to 9.5 megawatts of electricity.

Once again, state and local leaders, both in government and in the private market sector, are forging ahead to lead in environmental technology and sustainability - while Washington wallows in the swamp.

Predictably, the Trump administration ordered up a made-for-TV photo opportunity. Miners in hard hats and coal-country lawmakers applauded Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler (a former coal lobbyist and climate denier) as he signed the rollback measure that scraps one of President Barack Obama's key initiatives to rein in fossil fuel emissions. The replacement rule gives states more leeway in deciding whether to require plants to make limited efficiency upgrades.

Clearly Trump is running for election again.

But already, one state, New York, plans to go to court to challenge the EPA's newest action. More lawsuits are likely. Why? Money, of course. In addition to the pollution costs of coal both on climate and clean air concerns, there are market interests.

Forbes in December reported that across the U.S., renewable energy was beating coal on cost: The price to build new wind and solar plants has fallen below the cost of running existing coal-fired power plants.

"For example, Colorado's Xcel will retire 660 megawatts of coal capacity ahead of schedule in favor of renewable sources and battery storage, and reduce costs in the process. Midwestern utility MidAmerican will be the first utility to reach 100% renewable energy by 2020 without increasing customer rates, and Indiana's NIPSCO will replace 1.8 gigawatts of coal with wind and solar," Forbes reported. The same article noted that Lazard's annual Levelized Cost of Energy analysis found that solar photovoltaic and wind costs had dropped 88% and 69% since 2009, respectively. Meanwhile, coal costs decreased only by 9%, and nuclear power costs had increased by 23%.

And let's talk jobs. Just last month, Forbes wrote: "Renewable energy jobs are booming across American, creating stable and high-wage employment for blue-collar workers. ... By 2025, almost every existing coal plant in the United States will cost more to operate than building replacement wind and solar within 35 miles of each plant."

But in Washington on Wednesday, the Trump administration lied to Americans again.

"Americans want reliable energy that they can afford ... , [and] fossil fuels will continue to be an important part of the mix," Wheeler said at the signing ceremony.

Actually, a poll released this week by Yale University found that Americans are increasingly paying attention to global warming.

A majority of Americans say global warming is already harming their local community, and 57% hold the fossil fuel industry at least partly responsible. Further, 57% think fossil fuel companies should be forced to pay for those community damages.

Hey, TVA: Who's your buddy?

Speaking of costs, another new study released Thursday by Resilient Analytics and the Center for Climate Integrity found that we can expect to pay at least $400 billion over the next 20 years to protect America from rising seas. The study says protecting our coastlines will cost almost as much as it did to build the interstate highway system - but it needs to be done in half the time.

We'd probably best get local coastal governments and states on that right away. It's clear that we can count on the D.C. swamp to just stall it.

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