Renner Barsella, renner.barsella@sierraclub.org
OMAHA, NE -- Eight years after committing to the retirement of the coal-fired power generation at North Omaha Station, this week Omaha Public Power District announced a dramatic change of plans to keep the polluting facility operating until at least 2026.
In response, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Organizing Representative Graham Jordison, released the following statement:
“A three-year delay - or more - is unacceptable. The North Omaha community has already endured decades of health and environmental impacts and we know what three more years of burning coal means. That’s three more years of increased asthma attacks, heart and lung disease, and premature deaths. Three more years of soot, smog, mercury and other toxins. And three more years of climate impacts which will only strain energy and social systems more as extreme weather and climate degradation worsen.
“OPPD announced the retirement of North Omaha in 2014. Eight years is more than enough time to plan for a smooth transition. OPPD needs to make a full accounting of the impacts to human health and the environment and plan for a transition that mitigates those impacts and improves on the commitments that they have failed to keep. North Omaha is owed that and so much more.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.