On August 1, many local Sierrans and other friends of clean air met at Berkley Riverfront Park to celebrate Obama's recently-unveiled Clean Power Plan.
The event was named "120 Lives, 120 Sunflowers" in celebration of the estimated 120 Missouri lives that will be saved annualy by the proposed reductions in pollutants from coal-fired power plants.
Speakers included John Delurey, Missouri Beyond Coal activist; Sara Campbell, KC-based clean-air and lung-health advocate; Chad Cooper of the Sustainable Sanctuary Coalition; John Fish Kurmann of 350.org, and others. Musical entertainment was provided by Winston Apple and environmentally-focused band Soular.
The Huffington Post carried an inspiring writeup of the event.
The 15-year plan calls for 32-percent reductions in emissions from coal-fired power plants from 2005 levels by 2030. According to President Obama, "We'll be keeping 870 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution out of our atmosphere....Right now our power plants are the source of about a third of America's carbon pollution—that's more pollution than our cars, our airplanes and our homes contribute combined."
According to Forbes,
By 2030, emissions of sulfur dioxide from power plants would be 90% lower compared to 2005 levels. Emissions of nitrogen oxides would be 72% lower. And air-borne coal particulates would drop dramatically. Because these pollutants create dangerous soot and smog, getting to such low levels will mean avoiding thousands of premature deaths and thousands fewer asthma attacks and hospitalizations in the future.Since coal kills about a million people worldwide each year, more than any other part of our infrastructure, this public health aspect is the real strength of this Plan, even as climate change is used as the political driver.
According to the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent,
States don’t have control over their emissions targets, but they do get to decide how to meet them. States are required to complete their compliance plans by 2018. In writing their plans, they can pick from a number of options, including switching from coal to natural gas (something that has already been happening as utilities retire aging coal plants), promoting renewable energy, or helping residents reduce their electricity demand, among other things.
There is a more in-depth explanation of how the plan will work from the NRDC, at Greenbiz.com.
Thanks to all who came out and helped make the "120 Lives, 120 Sunflowers" event a success. Keep watching Meetup and Facebook for upcoming events you can attend and maybe help us make Huffpo again!