<p>Time to push CCA really, really, hard now. There is no other alternative
ready.</p><p>Bruce</p><p></p><p>
----- Message from brookse32@aim.com ---------<br />
Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 10:49:38 -0700<br />
From: Eric Brooks <brookse32@aim.com><br />
Reply-To: Eric Brooks <brookse32@aim.com><br />
Subject: [SFGP-A] 'Peaker' Plant Vote Delayed - Mayor Preparing Alternative<br
/>
To: GPSF Sustainability Working Group
<sustainability@sfgreens.org>, Green Active list
<active@sfgreens.org><br />
<br />
<br />
> Hi all,<br />
><br />
> Our collective hard work is beginning to pay off.<br />
><br />
> Mayor Newsom has asked for a delay in the 'Peaker' vote so that he can<br
/>
> prepare an alternative energy plan to avoid building the Combustion<br />
> Turbine plant.<br />
><br />
> Now is where we will need to be vigilant. Part of Newsom's proposal will<br
/>
> be to reduce pollution at Mirant.<br />
><br />
> So we will soon need to push for a firm closure date on the Mirant plant<br
/>
> in the very near future (even if it is polluting less), and then hold<br />
> the City to it.<br />
><br />
> Below is the SF Examiner article that announces Newsom's switch. Also<br />
> see the attached letter from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the Board and<br />
> Mayor opposing the plant - sent Monday. (Note that Kennedy and his group<br
/>
> NRDC are actually a major problem to real environmentalism - but most<br />
> mainstream liberals don't know that, and to them, a letter from Kennedy<br
/>
> is a -big- deal.)<br />
><br />
> We're almost at the finish line all. But we'll need a last wise push to<br
/>
> get there. ;)<br />
><br />
> peace, Eric<br />
><br />
> <a target="_blank"
href="http://www.examiner.com/printa-1388244~Decision_on_Potrero_power_plant_delayed.html">http://www.examiner.com/printa-1388244~Decision_on_Potrero_power_plant_delayed.html</a><br
/>
><br />
> Decision on Potrero power plant delayed<br />
><br />
> John Upton, The Examiner<br />
> 2008-05-13 10:00:00.0<br />
> Current rank: # 19 of 9,416<br />
> SAN FRANCISCO -<br />
><br />
> Mayor Gavin Newsom asked city legislators to delay a vote on a<br />
> controversial plan to build a new power plant in Potrero Hill that will<br
/>
> replace an older, more polluting plant, saying he needs another week to<br
/>
> work on an alternative strategy.<br />
><br />
> The Board of Supervisors was scheduled to vote today on a proposal to<br />
> borrow $273 million to build natural-gas-burning power plants in The<br />
> City's southeast and at the airport, but Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, the<br
/>
> legislation's sponsor, said Monday that she had agreed to the mayor's<br />
> request for a postponement.<br />
><br />
> The state agency charged with ensuring that Californians have reliable<br
/>
> electricity supplies, the California Independent Systems Operator<br />
> confirmed in a May 1 letter to the San Francisco Public Utilities<br />
> Commission that The City's plan for the new power plant was "the
best<br />
> mechanism" for retiring the old Potrero power plant. The plan to
build<br />
> the cleaner power plants and take other steps to replace the Mirant<br />
> plant was approved by the agency in November 2004.<br />
><br />
> Opposition, to the plan, has grown in recent months, however, with<br />
> groups including the Sierra Club, the San Francisco Planning and Urban<br
/>
> Research public policy nonprofit and the Bay Area Ella Baker Center for<br
/>
> Human Rights expressing a desire for a more renewable, less polluting<br />
> option than a fossil-fuel plant.<br />
><br />
> Newsom, who agreed in November to fast-track development proposals on<br />
> Mirant's land and waive millions of dollars in city fees if the company<br
/>
> closed the plant, told The Examiner on Monday that while he wants to<br />
> close Mirant, he is "desperate" to avoid building new<br />
> fossil-fuel-burning plants.<br />
><br />
> "I don't want to live to regret this decision," Newsom said.
"We may<br />
> look like fools five years from now."<br />
><br />
> Newsom said he will try to come up with an "aggressive"
alternative plan<br />
> to install new technology at the Mirant-owned plant to reduce pollution,<br
/>
> increase electricity imports from a plan in the works to bring power<br />
> into The City through a Transbay Cable, create more electricity from<br />
> renewable sources and reduce in-city electricity demand.<br />
><br />
> San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Ed Harrington<br
/>
> told supervisors last week that SFPUC staff hadn't filed proposals with<br
/>
> the California ISO to take different steps to replace the Mirant plant<br
/>
> because discussions indicated they would have "no chance of
success."<br />
><br />
> jupton@sfexaminer.com<br />
<br />
<br />
----- End message from brookse32@aim.com -----<br />
<br />
</p>