Editors note: The statistical figures in this letter were provided by the author, not the IDS editorial staff.
The
misinformation and distortion of facts presented in the Jan. 31 edition
of the Indiana Daily Student in an article titled “Duke Energy to build
new Edwardsport coal plant” is simply unacceptable. As an energy
company, I am well-aware that honesty and basic standards of moral
correctness are likely not to be Duke’s strong suits; I do, however,
feel that being honest about the extent to which this plant will levy a
negative externality on the public is an ethical imperative that not
even an energy company with $50 billion in assets is exempt from. Duke
is correct in their assessment that nitrogen and sulfur emissions will
be significantly reduced via the employment of coal gasification
technology. However, a fact that Duke conveniently chose not to mention
is that the above pollutants are not the only gases posing significant
threats to human and ecological health.
Using the numbers from
Duke’s Significant Source Modification Filing with the Indiana Dept. of
Environmental Management (August 2006), the IGCC plant will require a
1,480 percent increase in carbon monoxide (69.5 tons/year to 1,098.18
tons/year) a 899.54 percent increase in particulates (302.8 tons/year
to 1,202 tons/year) a 678 percent increase in VOCs(8.3 tons/year to
64.58 tons/year) and a 14,555 percent increase in lead (.00058
tons/year to .085 tons/year).
And those are just criteria air
pollutants! Duke Energy spokeswoman Angeline Protogere oddly noted that
“the plant will produce more carbon dioxide ... however, the rate
per-megawatt-hour that this gas will be emitted is less than the
current plant,” as if relative rates of emissions is of any
significance when the new IGCC plant is emitting far more carbon
dioxide than the existing pulverized coal plant (a 785 percent increase
at 440393 tons/year to 3.9 million tons/year). Let’s be clear here;
this is not an issue regarding the relative merits of goal
gasification. This is an issue of honesty, ethics and adequately
informing the public about the costs of coal combustion. The IU student
body deserves an apology from Duke Energy Indiana. And they deserve the
truth. Distorting factual information regarding the well-being of
Hoosiers is not only unethical but downright dangerous.
Elliot Hayden
