amazing success of the fight to stop new coal plants. Consider the situation in early
2007. At that time the Energy Department released a survey<\/a> showing 151 new
coal plants in progress. Speaking
to the National Press Club<\/a> in February 2007, NASA’s head climate scientist James
Hansen identified stopping this boom in new coal plant construction as a
necessary condition for halting climate disaster.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hansen’s focus on coal proved invaluable as a yardstick for <\/p>\n In my account of the anti-coal movement, <\/a>Climate Hope: On <\/p>\n That’s a .629 batting average—incredible!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For the first time in six years, not a single new coal plant <\/p>\n But the success of the anti-coal movement hasn’t been Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Using Coal Ash to Melt Ice?<\/a><\/p>\n Complaint cites health threats at Alabama dump taking TVA’s spilled coal ash<\/a><\/p>\n
grassroots climate activists. Across the country, hundreds of small groups<\/a> mobilized to block the wave of construction. While many national groups
assisted the grassroots groups, two deserve particular kudos for zeroing in
specifically on stopping coal plants: Sierra Club<\/a> and Rainforest Action
Network.<\/a><\/p>\n
the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal<\/a>, I document 100 coal plant cancellations<\/a> between mid-2007 and mid-2009. That
number continues to grow, with the Sierra Club tracking list now showing 123
coal projects <\/a>derailed as Feb. 12. Of the 151 coal plants listed by the
Energy Department in 2007, the CoalSwarm wiki lists 95 plants cancelled or
abandoned.<\/a><\/p>\n
broke ground in 2009<\/a>, a radical turnaround from projections of three years ago.<\/p>\n
limited to stopping new coal plants. The vast infrastructure of existing plants<\/a>—call
it the Carbon Archipelago—is beginning to crumble<\/a> as well. And overseas, the Chinese
coal plant boom is also fading. I’ll make those two closely related
developments the subject of upcoming posts.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"