New Mexico Governor Opposes Coal Power Plant on Navajo Land
A great step by the governor to protect New Mexico’s land:
SANTA FE, New Mexico (ENS) New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson today expressed his opposition to a new $2 billion, 1,500 megawatt coal-fired power plant proposed for Navajo Nation lands in northwestern New Mexico near the Four Corners area.
“I am gravely concerned about the potential environmental impacts of the proposed Desert Rock Energy Facility,” said the governor, who is a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. “Each new conventional coal plant built without significant carbon dioxide controls is a step backwards and does not move us towards a future of more safe and efficient energy use,” Richardson said.
“The estimated 12 million tons of carbon dioxide emitted each year from the Desert Rock Energy Facility would increase New Mexico greenhouse gas emissions by about 15 percent, making my aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals difficult – if not impossible – to meet.”
source: mywire.com; Environment News Service, July, 2007