We all breath the same air

There are some things in Nevada it is ok to burn.


There are some things it is not ok to burn (anywhere, in my opinion...)

About the Sempra Plant
Sempra’s 2 billion dollar plant will emit more than 50 dangerous pollutants into Nevada’s pristine air and use over 14 million gallons of precious desert ground water each day in order to provide power to Southern California.

Please sign their petition.


While there are no coal resources in Nevada, there is a vast reservoir of untapped geothermal energy. Currently there are over 200 megawatts of geothermal power being produced in Northern Nevada using wells to draw 300-degree water from underground to create steam and spin turbines. Once it cools, the geothermal water is returned to the earth to reheat.

The California Energy Commission has estimated in an independent study that there are over 800 megawatts worth of geothermal potential in Northern Nevada that could be economically developed today. And the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates there may be thousands of megawatts more that are yet to be fully explored. Do we rely on a clean indigenous source of energy, or on millions of tons of dirty coal?


NCEC's Full Economic Report (PDF Format 1.49 MB)

"Our detailed economic report compiled by Western Resource Advocates argues that there is enough wind and geothermal resources in Northern Nevada to generate approximately the same amount of electricity as the Sempra plant. The direct economic impacts of 1,000 MW of wind and 800 MW of geothermal development in northern Nevada are significant:

Investment of $3.9 billion dollars in Nevada infrastructure
3,354 construction phase jobs (person years of employment)
580 operation phase jobs (person years of employment per year)
$137 million in wages and salaries during the construction phase
$182 million sales/use tax
$25.8 million in annual property taxes
$7.5 million in annual royalty payments

Sempra's economic plan would prevent other industries from investing in the area by absorbing all available water resources and allowed “increments” of ambient air pollutants.

By taking all available capacity on the PDCI transmission line they would also prevent Nevada from developing a diversified energy portfolio."



I have to say after reading the full text of the NCEC's Full Economic Report the coal plant seems like an even worse idea than when I first saw this link. The coal plant looks glittery and shiny with promises of money and jobs, but in the end locks the region into one, and only one, option and inflicts large scale environmental damage on both the immediate region and the globe. The health impacts on the people who stand to gain from the jobs is also rather startling.

While I am not a member of Washoe county, thus I have no immediate legal voice, I do not see how this should preclude me from vocalizing my opinions. I wish that the federal level was present to back me up, but sadly the Clean Air Bills which I personally worked on are no longer strong enough. Additionally, the impacts of this plant are not limited to Washoe county. The excess of one billion pounds of dangerous pollutants to be released will affect my life as well as my children’s lives.

There are viable alternative options to a coal fire plant, but they are not the sort of options business will take up on their own. Our global voices are required to prompt the choice of health over money.