Norton Gets Long Sought Relief for D.C. From Coal Burning Capitol Power Plant (6/21/07)
June 21, 2007
Washington, DC—As Democratic House and Senate leaders today announced the “Greening of the Capitol Initiative,” Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) got her amendment through the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) to reduce pollution emissions from the U.S. Capitol Power Plant, the most glaring carbon dioxide (CO2) issue for which the federal government is responsible here. “Starting in our own backyard is the way to begin cleaning the environment,” Norton said. “Capitol Hill neighbors have complained for years about coal dirt on their porches and in their homes.” Norton’s amendment, to control carbon dioxide emissions by installing equipment and using practices to capture and store CO2 emissions from burning coal, was part of H.R. 2701, the Transportation Energy Security and Climate Change Mitigation Act of 2007, passed yesterday by the T&I Committee, on which Norton serves. H.R. 2701 is a broad-ranging bill that will promote environmentally sound practices and energy conservation in programs in nearly every area of the committee’s jurisdiction, especially surface transportation, aviation, public buildings, and water resources.
Norton’s amendment defeated a provision to return the Capitol Power Plant to 100 percent coal burning rather than the current mix of natural gas, fuel oil and coal. This amendment, proposed by Rep. Charles Dent (R-PA), was opposed by the Sierra Club and other environmental watchdog groups, as well as Norton. She said that burning more coal at the power plant “would inflame emissions of air pollutants here at the heart of the federal government.” She said that it would be turning around and marching backwards to convert a facility from cleaner burning fuels to coal use, particularly here, where burning coal would worsen seriously bad air quality problems in the region. “Coal fired plants are the dirtiest way to generate electricity, something this region cannot handle when we already are being cited for failing to meet national air quality standards.”
The Norton amendment directs the Architect of the Capitol to use technologies to reduce carbon emissions from the coal used at the facility. Fuel selection is based on a combination of economics and available equipment.