For Immediate Release
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Contact: Russ Harding
Environmental Policy Analyst
989-631-0900

MIDLAND — The 74 Michigan House members who signed a petition asking Gov. Jennifer Granholm to rescind her moratorium on coal-fired plant construction have taken a bipartisan, principled stand and should be commended for attempting to preserve the rule of law, said Russ Harding, Mackinac Center environmental policy analyst.

“The executive directive of Gov. Granholm should be rescinded as it circumvents energy legislation passed just last year,” Harding said. “Reliable power is essential for Michigan’s economic future, and coal power plants are Michigan’s only viable alternative for affordable base load power needs over the next decade.”

A former director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Harding said that the DEQ should not be involved in any decisions related to Michigan’s energy future. He added that Michigan desperately needs the real jobs that would result from the construction of new coal power plants rather than the merely speculative jobs that may or may not be created in the alternative energy industry.

For more information, go to https://www.mackinac.org/10285.

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