Fresh Loaf

Tons of CO2 emitted in 2007 by Plant Scherer, a coal power plant outside Macon: 27,200,000

Since 2002, number of states with lower increase in CO2 emissions than Georgia: 48

Pounds of CO2 emission stopped annually by replacing three incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs: 300

Pounds of CO2 emission stopped annually by inflating your car tires correctly: 250

Pounds of CO2 emission stopped annually by setting your thermostat two degree cooler in winter and warmer in summer: 2,000

Pounds of CO2 emissions stopped annually by switching from average American diet to a vegetarian diet: 3,000

Minimum number people, businesses and municipalities turning off all lights for one hour on March 29 for Earth Hour: 160,000

U.S. home fires caused by candles between 2000 and 2004: 16,400

Sources: Environmental Integrity Project, National Fire Protection Association, www.earthhour.org, International Herald Tribune, www.stopglobalwarming.org

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Did ya hear about this plant? GreenLaw has. The Atlanta-based environmental law firm is representing 15 groups that say a proposed power plant 60 miles outside of Macon in Sandersville has not efficiently outlined a strategy for how exactly it plans to control pollutants emitted from the facility.

Power4Georgians LLC has touted the plant as a safer, more efficient power facility that uses cleaner technologies and will have less of an impact on water resources than its antiquated counterparts. But GreenLaw considers it an unhealthy — and financially risky — energy option for Georgia. Keep in mind that Plant Scherer, branded as the nation’s foulest power plant, sits just north of Macon. (For an interesting read on how the coal used at Plant Scherer gets from Wyoming to Georgia, click here.)

“At a time when innovative, cleaner ways of producing energy are becoming more economically feasible, Georgia must look to new technologies as well as to greater conservation measures to achieve the economic growth that we expect,” Patty Durand, Georgia chapter director of the Sierra Club, said in a press release. “We need to attract more ‘green collar’ jobs for Georgia and keep our air clean for breathing.”

Click here for GreenLaw’s take on the matter. Information about the proposed plant, made available by Power4Georgians LLC, is available here.

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Statistics released yesterday show that Georgia is home to the nation’s dirtiest power plant, Monroe County’s Plant Scherer. We’ve also got No. 3, Plant Bowen in Bartow County.

The nation’s second-dirtiest power plant is right next door, in Alabama. And all three are operated by Southern Co.

According to one estimate, the nation’s 50 dirtiest power plants account for only 14 percent of our electricity-generating facilities, yet are responsible for 40 percent of the nation’s power-plant pollution.

Perhaps I have Southern Co.’s political influence to thank for my persistent summer cough. Those greenhouse gases are far more treacherous in the warmer months, you know.

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