Springfield Voters Approve Funding for New Coal Plant

Ozark Sierran index

Springfield Voters Approve Funding for New Coal Plant
Fight not over—appeal of air permit still pending
by Jill Miller, Sierra Club organizer

Despite an intense, hard-fought campaign involving local Sierra Club members and other citizen groups, on Tuesday June 6, City Utilities of Springfield managed to overturn the 2004 voter rejection of their plan to build an unnecessary coal-fired power plant. We made a strong showing against incredibly long odds, and the fight is not over.

Refusing to accept “NO” from the voters, City Utilities and Springfield City Council made sure the bond vote was scheduled as a single-issue ballot during summer vacation time when such elections typically have low voter turn-out. Only 18 percent of Springfield voters cast ballots. CU and its supporters spent tens of thousands of dollars on a cynically orchestrated media campaign to scare voters into believing coal was Springfield’s only option. The final result was 59 percent to 41 percent in favor of this costly coal plant proposal.

Local volunteers like Simon Mahan (Sierra Club Student Coalition) poured their hearts and souls into this campaign.
Photo by Jill Miller

Local volunteers poured their hearts and souls into this campaign, working tirelessly to contact voters in our targeted precincts across the north side of the city. We made phone calls nearly every night, knocked on thousands of doors, handed out informational flyers, staged media events, sent mailings, placed ads in newspapers and a local movie theatre, recorded radio spots, and distributed 500 yard signs. On Election Day, right down to the wire, we continued to make reminder calls, fielded questions about precinct locations, and took people to the polls.

The people who will be most affected by another coal plant are largely poor. Over and over, the residents we spoke to told us they couldn’t afford to pay for another coal plant, they didn’t want the pollution, and they knew there were better choices available. They were angry and frustrated that CU had ignored the will of the voters just because they didn’t like the results. They were absolutely right, and their comments inspired us to dig deep and work hard every day.

Our efforts succeeded in the precincts where we did the most work—by and large they voted “NO” on June 6, as they had in 2004. In the end, however, we were simply outmatched by our opponents’ deep pockets as well as a heavily biased local news media.

CU’s win on June 6 is likely to be a pyrrhic victory, for the costs of committing itself to outdated dirty coal deep into the 21st century will be far greater than CU has led the public to believe. The coal plant bond alone will cost ratepayers more than $1.2 billion by the time it’s paid off. Meanwhile, the cost of rail delivery of coal spirals up with the price of diesel fuel. Nationally, electric utilities are anticipating substantial taxes on heat-trapping global warming emissions produced by coal plants within a few years. The true cost to the people of Springfield won’t be fully disclosed for years to come. But we do know that the ratepayers will bear the financial costs of shortsighted planning – that’s the only thing guaranteed in the bond language.
However, the battle is not over. We have an air permit appeal pending in state court in Greene County. The case will be heard in early July. If we win, the air pollution permit will be remanded and the plant will be set back for many months, perhaps years.

Furthermore, we have a terrific group of people in Springfield who are dedicated to working on renewable energy and energy efficiency. The Sierra Student Coalition (SSC) has been an important part of the coal plant fight for the past several years, and the new leaders are interested in pursuing “green campus” initiatives at MSU and Drury.

I am incredibly honored to have worked with such amazing, brave people—volunteers who were there every day and those who devoted whatever time they had in any way they could. We became friends and made important connections. The residents of Springfield that I talked to on front porches and on the phone will continue to inspire me for years.