INDIANAPOLIS - Dec 14 - Evansville Courier & Press

Chanting "No more coal," a group of sign-waving environmentalists demonstrated at the Statehouse on Thursday to protest state approval of Duke Energy's new power-generating plant.

Valley Watch President John Blair of Evansville, accompanied by a man dressed as Santa Claus, filled a Christmas stocking with Southwestern Indiana coal and tried to deliver it to Gov. Mitch Daniels' office. They named the governor on their "naughty list" for his support of the Duke Energy project.

The demonstration Thursday by the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Valley Watch and other environmental groups was to underscore their opposition to the new $2 billion Edwardsport facility. Last month, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved the 630-megawatt plant, which would replace an aging coal- fired plant that generates about 130 megawatts.

Using a technology called coal gasification, the Edwardsport plant, if built, would convert high-sulfur Indiana coal into natural gas and then burn the gas to produce electricity. Duke has said that plant construction will increase its customers' rates by 16 percent. But Blair and other opponents contend the actual increases passed on to ratepayers would be much higher, if the costs of capturing carbon emissions from the gasification process are factored in.

"I'm here to tell you, we're fed up," Blair declared from the podium as his voice filled the Statehouse rotunda and the crowd of about 50 demonstrators clapped.

Along with Citizens Action organizer Dave Menzer, who was decked out as Santa Claus, Blair and other protesters filled a large red stocking with lumps of coal. Then Blair and Menzer delivered the stocking to the governor's outer office while demonstrators chanted loudly in the Statehouse hallway.

The governor wasn't in Thursday and his staff took the protest in good humor, offering Santa cookies and milk.

"That was quaint," Blair said, "but it missed the point. We're not going to be distracted. We're going to win this."

John Clark, the Daniels administration's director of the Office of Energy and Defense Development, issued a statement after the protest: "The governor appreciates the sincerity of these advocates, and hopes that in time they will see that Indiana can continue improving our environment without costing us jobs or limiting the economic future of our families." Clark added, "The Edwardsport project is the state's first baseload power plant in 20 years and will help show the world how best to use coal in the future."

The next step in the approval process for Duke is obtaining a state air-pollution permit.

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