Pressure on Virginia Governor Tim "Coal is Clean" Kaine has escalated in recent days as he stepped out to push state level leadership on global warming. Southern states have lagged far behind Northeastern and Western state alliances to enact regional greenhouse gas reduction targets and emissions trading schemes. Kaine called for a Southern states alliance yesterday at the Southern Governors' Association meeting.
This has drawn new fire from a wide range of critics pointing out the hypocrisy of Kaine's support for new coal plant in Wise County, a plant that typifies BIG LIES of Clean Coal !
You have read about the ongoing local pressure on the Wise County plant here and here on Coal is Dirty.
Now that Kaine is in the national spotlight with rumours about being a potential Obama running mate, the stakes are raised. The lead story on the widely read but subscription-only web pub Greenwire by reporter Daniel Cusick details the pressure on Kaine over his duplicity on coal and climate:
In a move that some environmentalists call a betrayal and others a "blind spot," Kaine is supporting the construction of a new 585-megawatt coal plant in the state's southwestern corner -- the heart of mining counties where generations have staked their livelihoods on the boom-and-bust pursuit of Appalachian coal."
EPA whistleblower Eric Schaeffer, director of the Environmental Integrity Project, and Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch post a blistering GRIST.org article attack on Kaine, comparing him to another VP candidate Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, who, as you have followed on COAL IS DIRTY, has been very proactive in stopping BIG COAL in its dirty tracks.
Chesapeake Climate Action Network has been campaigning against the Wise County plant and applying pressure to Kaine all year. Video here!
Two weeks ago the Southern Environmental Law Center today submitted
court filings challenging the state's actions in granting Dominion
Power permission to build the Wise
County, Virginia.
If Kaine thinks he needs to capitulate to big dirty utilities like Dominion Power to remain an "elected" official, we don't need him in the White House. If he emerges as the Southern climate champion, putting flesh on the bones of his regional proposal and waking up to the truth about Dirty Coal, his leadership would be invaluable.
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