A Natural Approach - Wind-power Line Good for State
2/21/15 - Check Saturday's Democrat-Gazette page 9B for this Guest Editorial by Hanna Davis, a sophomore and vice-chair of Environmental Concerns Committee at Hendrix college and currently an intern with the Sierra Club.
Come Testify for Clean Wind Energy in AR!
Message posted 2/4/15 - Message from Chapter Director Glen Hooks: I'm looking for some folks to join me at a Department of Energy hearing in Morrilton on Thursday 2/19, to support the proposed Clean Line Energy wind transmission line (details below). Will you come along and testify in favor of 4000MW of wind energy?
We'll be carpooling to Morrilton from the Sierra Club office on 2/19 at 4:15 p.m.. I'd love to have you join us. Please let me know if you can go--see additional details below. Thanks ((GLEN))
Glen Hooks, J.D.
Chapter Director
Sierra Club of Arkansas
1308 West 2nd Street
Little Rock, AR 72201
(501) 301-8280 (office)
(501) 744-2674 (cell)
glen.hooks@sierraclub.org
Help Bring Clean Wind Energy to The Natural State!
1/28/15 - For years, your Sierra Club has been working to end our dependence on dirty fossil fuels and usher in a future powered by clean, renewable energy. You've probably read news stories about how solar and wind power are setting installation records month after month across the country. It's a truly exciting time: while we are announcing the retirement of dirty coal plants, we are also bringing thousands of megawatts of clean energy online.
Today, I'm happy to announce Arkansas Sierra Club's support for a game-changing wind energy project, and I'd like to ask for your help in making it happen. Will you join us at an upcoming public hearing in Arkansas to support clean wind power?
Clean Line Energy is working to move 4000 megawatts of clean wind energy from the sparsely-populated plains of Oklahoma to where it is needed in the east. The project is a large direct voltage transmission line carrying wind energy across Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and into Tennessee where it can hook into the TVA system. To give you an idea of how important 4000 megawatts of wind energy is: that is more than 6 times the power produced by an average-sized dirty coal-fired power plant. Even better--Clean Line wants to provide 500 megawatts of wind power for Arkansas.
Creating this much wind energy and getting it to the right places will absolutely mean that more dirty coal-fired power plants will retire. I view this as the kind of large-scale clean energy project that is essential to moving our country off of fossil fuels. For years, we've been saying that closing coal-fired power plants would create the market for clean energy to thrive--now that prediction is coming true.
In February, the US Department of Energy is holding six meetings across Arkansas to take public comments on the project's environmental impact. Will you attend one of these meetings to voice your support for clean wind power? Open house 5:00 - 5:45 pm; presentation 5:45 - 6:15 pm; public comment 6:15 - 8:00 pm. Here are the dates and locations:
2/9 M - Newport, AR 72112 - Arkansas State University-Newport, Student Community Center, 7648 Victory Boulevard
2/10 T - Searcy, AR 72143 - Carmichael Community Center, 801 S. Elm
2/11 W - Marked Tree, AR 72365 - Arkansas State University-- Marked Tree Student Center , 33500 Highway 63 E
2/17 T - Russellville, AR 72802 - Lake Point Conference Center --Event Center, 61 Lake Point Lane
2/18 W - Fort Smith, AR 72901 - Fort Smith Convention Center, Exhibit Hall A, 55 7th St
2/19 Th - Morrilton, AR 72110 - University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton, Fine Arts Building Auditorium, 1537 University Blvd.
If you can join us, or would like more details, please contact me at glen.hooks@sierraclub.org. You can also learn more about the Clean Line project at http://www.plainsandeasterncleanline.com
I hope to see you at the hearings--thank you for your membership and your support!
Glen Hooks - Chapter Director - Sierra Club of Arkansas
For a one-page [PDF} printable copy of the above message, click HERE.
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M 11/17/14, 7 pm -- Panel discussion on proposed Clean Line Energy project, which intends to build an interstate transmission lines to move wind energy. Sierra Club's Glen Hooks and Bob Allen spoke in favor of the project, with two other panelists taking an opposing view. (Hendrix College, Conway)