The controversy over Dominion’s proposed coal-fired power plant in Wise show signs of morphing into a national story. First, as Peter Galuszka noted in an earlier blog post, the left-wing blogosphere has jumped on the issue. Now James Hansen, recently departed director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and world-renowned climatologist, has written a letter to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, urging him to oppose the coal plant.
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network quotes Hansen as follows:
I have become involved in several coal-fired power plant cases, including ones in my home state of Iowa, because it has become clear that emissions from coal-fired power plants will be the single most dominant factor in determining the nature of our future climate and our planetary legacy for our children and grandchildren,” said Dr. Hansen. “This Virginia case is important because it is near-term. We need a moratorium on coal-fired power plants now, until technology is ready to capture all emissions, including carbon dioxide.
“Concern about global warming is rising. Coal is on its way out,” Hansen concluded. “A governor who acts on both of these truths will go down in history as a true visionary.”
Hansen garnered considerable attention in 2005 and 2006 when he asserted that the Bush administration was trying to censor his views on global warming. Those charges inspired some sarcastic commentary by skeptics who noted his long-standing status as one of the nation’s most outspoken prophets of global warming. If he was censored, he certainly found a way to make his opinions known.
Even if you dismiss Hansen as an ideologue with a penchant for controversy, as some undoubtedly will, there is no denying that he has a strong media following. Don’t be surprised if the Wise coal plant becomes the cause celebre that catalyzes a national movement calling for a total moratorium on new coal plants.