FLORENCE — National conservation leaders gathered with local environmentalists Friday to discuss the validity of the proposed Pee Dee Energy Campus.
Santee Cooper’s 600-megawatt coal-fired generation facility would be located on a 2,709-acre tract in Kingsburg, scheduled to become operational sometime after 2012 at a cost of about $1.25 billion to build.
Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, came to the Pee Dee to discuss how a Barack Obama presidency could impact the proposed facility.
Officials within the company have said the energy produced by the plant is necessary to South Carolina to prevent a power shortage in the next five years. Schweiger said, however, there are other, better, cleaner ways to produce the energy needed to power South Carolina.
“As little as 18 months ago, there were 150 coal-fired power plants proposed in various states throughout the country,” he said, “but as our national policy is becoming clearer in terms of where we are headed, a number of those have been canceled.”
There are a number of reasons for the cancelled plans, including outdated technology and because of the president-elect’s plans for a “carbon tax” — basically be a tax on the carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, Schweiger said.
“Clean coal does not currently exist anywhere,” he said. “It is a myth created on television.”
As more plans for coal-fired facilities are scrapped, the coal-producing parts of the country like West Virginia and Kentucky will see a marked improvement in their landscapes because mountain-top removal mining will become obsolete, Schweiger said.
Local clean energy proponent, such as Dr. Weave Whitehead, a board member for the S.C. Wildlife Federation, Florence Mayor Stephen J. Wukela and S.C. Small Business CEO Frank Knapp, joined Schweiger in pointing out how a coal-fired power plant would affect other aspects of life in the Pee Dee.
Whitehead, a Florence pediatrician, said part of his job is to speak out for the health of the children in the region.
“Even with the very best pollution control technology applied, coal-fired power plants are not clean,” he said. “Clean coal is an oxymoron.”
Wukela, who was unable to attend the conference, said in a statement the coal plant is an issue at the forefront of local, state and national government.
“Decisions like these are being made throughout our country and the world; whether we want to continue the harmful practice of burning coal,” he said. “As I said before, we are at a crossroads.”
Wukela challenged people to decide whether we want to take the “easy road ...where we continue to pollute our air, land and water ...” or “go the other direction, and say no when we are told we have no choice.”
Wukela said he wants to move Florence into a new era of energy efficiency, sustainability and profitability without the help of coal.
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