Desert Rock

No new coal plants broke ground in 2009, the Sierra Club said in a statement last week. The group refers to “the coal rush” that it says began in 2001 when 150 proposed coal-fired plants were announced. Since then, 111 have been defeated or abandoned, 26 of them in 2009. And the Obama administration can [...]

The biological assessment has been withdrawn for a proposed coal-fired power plant in the Four Corners region by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, according to the Associated Press. The federal agency has “significant concerns” about how the amount of selenium and mercury in the San Juan River might affect two endangered fish species that are [...]

The government has denied Desert Rock Energy Company’s bid for a federal stimulus grant, the Farmington Daily Times reported today. The company had hoped to use the money to include carbon capture sequestration technology into the project design of a coal-fired power plant near Farmington. Opponents of the project say the decision by the Department of Energy [...]

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department study, due next month, will show there are already significant threats posed to endangered species in the region by industrial and agricultural pollutants in the four corners region.

The Las Cruces Connection is blogging the “airport of the future,” better known as Spaceport America. This blog has it all on what to expect for the breaking-ground events planned for today for the spaceport located in Doña Ana County. Also, you can watch the live webcast at 11:00 a.m. here.

In a dramatic move yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency withdrew the air quality permit it issued last summer for the Desert Rock coal-fired power plant, which is slated to be built in the Navajo Nation in the Four Corners region just southwest of Farmington. The action drew praise from critics of the plant and blistering commentary from its proponents.

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King just released a statement saying the Environmental Protection Agency has withdrawn the “power plant permit” for the proposed Desert Rock coal-fired power plant that would be located on the Navajo Nation in the Four Corners region of New Mexico.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a finding today that six greenhouse gases cause air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare. The finding also found that emissions from motor vehicles contribute to the concentration of three of those gases, which contributes to climate change.

The proposed Desert Rock coal-fired power plant may be envisioned as a state-of-the-art facility that reduces pollution a great deal compared to conventional power plants, but the Natural Resources Defense Council still ranks it quite high for the amount of waste it’ll produce.
Comparing it to 80 proposed coal plants nationwide, the NRDC ranks Desert Rock [...]

One of New Mexico’s constitutional amendments on the November ballot that everyone thought had passed was actually defeated. Amendment 4 would have allowed school board elections to be held on the same day as other nonpartisan races, such as municipal elections.
But making that change requires three-quarters of voters statewide and two-thirds of voters in each [...]

National Public Radio aired a story from NPR member station KNAU on the controversial Desert Rock power plant that may be going up on the Navajo Nation in the Four Corners area.
The piece, aired on the station’s mid-day show, “Day to Day,” showed both sides of the debate. The supporters, including Navajo Nation President Joe [...]

New Mexico Assistant Attorney General Seth Cohen says last week’s ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has to reconsider an air quality permit issued for an expansion of the Bonanza coal-fired power plant in Utah will have a similar impact on the air quality permit issued in July for the proposed Desert Rock power [...]

The expansion of a coal-fired power plant in Utah has been blocked because the Environmental Protection Agency’s permit did not adequately take into account carbon dioxide emissions.
The Deseret News, one of Salt Lake City’s major dailies, reports that the decision yesterday by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board halts plans to expand the Bonanza Power Plant [...]