Boulder group joins fight against coal burning in Utah

Mar 20 - Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)

A group of Boulder businesses, organizations and individuals are among a 100-member Colorado coalition that this week co-signed a letter imploring the Environmental Protection Agency to stop two Utah coal plants from creating hazy skies in some of the region's most prominent wilderness areas.

The letter, submitted in conjunction with the Sierra Club and Protect Our Winters -- the leading climate advocacy group for the winter sports industry -- alleges that the Hunter and Huntington coal-fired power plants in Utah are not only harming that state's air quality and health because of outdated emissions systems, but are also doing the same to several beloved natural areas in Colorado .

In world-famous Utah national parks like Arches, Bryce Canyon and Canyonlands, the consequent haze poses a public health risk, and the letter's coalition alleges the same can now be said of multiple Colorado spots, including Mesa Verde National Park , Black Canyon and the Flat Tops Wilderness Area.

"I think what resonates here," said Sierra Club organizer Lindsay Beebe , "is not only the visibility issue with regional haze, but also tied to that intrinsically is the fact that public health is affected by these pollutants as well. You look out across a hazy sky and you know that there's things in there you're not supposed to be breathing."

Among the brands with Boulder ties echoing that concern are Head Skis, La Sportiva footwear, ZEAL Optics, Backpacker and Skiing magazines, Boulder Cyclesport and the restaurant Pica's Taqueria.

La Sportiva North America President Jonathan Lantz said his company signed "in the best interest of long-term health of the general public."

"Part of the whole ethos of our company," he added, "is to use the best mountain products while doing the least harm to the environment. It's integral to our business to then also help defend the environment by helping preserve national parks, natural resources, clean water and clean air."

The co-signed note that these two plants, operated by the Warren Buffett-owned energy company Rocky Mountain Power , are currently not subject to certain coal production regulations that apply in other western states like Arizona and Wyoming . As a result, they contribute to more than 40 percent of the Utah electricity sector's nitrogen oxide pollution.

"Emissions from these two plants are a regional threat," the letter states.

"This level of pollution is unacceptable and must be addressed. Requiring Rocky Mountain Power to install affordable pollution controls on these two plants will reduce dangerous haze-causing emissions and protect the health of Colorado's national parks, communities and economy."

More than 55,000 members of the public -- Leonardo DiCaprio included -- have submitted public comments along similar lines, pushing for aggressive regulations from the EPA when it rules June 1 on Utah's plants.

The most effective known way to remove nitrogen oxide from coal-fired power plant smoke stacks is through a technology known as selective catalytic reduction. But, Beebe said, "if the state of Utah isn't going to hold the utility accountable, they're not going to spend the extra money" to reduce pollution.

"It's available, it's cost-effective and it would create jobs at the plant because it would take time and resources to install these technologies," Beebe argued. "And it's the cost of doing business, frankly. It you're burning coal, you're going to have to clean up after yourself."

Trent Davol , owner of Pica's Taqueria in east Boulder , said it's incumbent upon the city's business community to adopt that stance.

"We live here and we work here for a reason," he said, "To be in the mountains, to do things in the mountains. ... It should be important to us that, as places get more crowded, we have these national parks that are sort of an oasis away from things, and we have to keep them beautiful and pristine."

Alex Burness : 303-473-1389, burnessa@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/alex_burness

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