Sierra Club files suit vs. aging UW coal plant

Monday, May 07, 2007

From an article by Mike Ivey in The Capital Times:

The aging Charter Street Power Plant in the heart of the UW-Madison campus has become a lightning rod for environmentalists looking to reduce the state's reliance on coal-burning and its growing global warming footprint.

Wisconsin's greenhouse gas emissions grew at a faster rate than the national average during the 1990s, jumping 26 percent compared to 20 percent nationally. About 70 percent of the state's electricity is generated by coal burning, with at least three new coal-fired power plants in the works here.

To address the pollution issue, the Sierra Club on Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing the university and state of violating the Federal Clean Air Act. The complaint maintains the UW repeatedly violated the law over the past decade as it patched and repaired the Charter Street facility.

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