Michigan Doesn't Need More Coal!
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Last week, LS Power announced the suspension of the Mid-Michigan Energy 750- megawatt, coal-fired, electrical generating plant proposed for Midland, Michigan.

The suspension of the Mid-Michigan Energy plant should create a new era of energy opportunities for the city. It opens the way to developing affordable, clean and safe technologies and generating sustainable jobs, clean air and climate stability for Michiganders. More coal, on the other hand, subjects the city and state to serious health risks and economic costs, due to air and water pollution from coal mining, coal combustion, post-combustion wastes, and climate change. The choice is clear: Michigan should move into the clean-energy future.

However, 7 more coal plants are still proposed for the state of Michigan.

You can help roll those coal plants back and open the way for clean and sustainable alternatives. Make your voice heard through a "Letter to the Editor." The Opinion Section is the second most- read section of the newspaper and your view matters. We make it easy with talking points and one-click access to newspapers.

Click on these links to respond directly to these recent articles:

Detroit News, LS Power shelves proposed Michigan coal plant
Detroit Free Press, Plan for coal plant in Midland canceled
Reuters, LS suspends development of Mich. coal power plant
The Saginaw News, Lawmaker blames overregulation for death of Midland power plant project
Midland Daily News, Our view: Deck was stacked against LS Power
Midland Daily News, Environmentalist: shelved plant is an opportunity
Bay City Times, LS Power suspends push for power plant
Bay City Times, Consumers: Midland power plant's death doesn't affect our plans
UPDATE: Midland plant cancellation calls Bay County project into question

Or, you can look for papers near your zip code here:

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General Letter to the Editor Tips: Keep it to 250 words, try to respond directly to an article already out there, include your own subject, and make one clear point. Also, alert the editors that this is an LTE and include your, address and contact information for the newspaper's verification process. Click here for more tips.

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The Mid-Michigan Energy plant proposed by LS Power -- and currently suspended -- posed serious threats to Michiganders' health, economy, and environment. Now, instead, we can pursue clean, jobs-rich energy sources.

None of the estimates of economic benefits from new coal plants took into account the increased health costs they would entail. The actual impact of new coal plants would include the increased number of deaths and hospitalizations and decreased quality of life.

Coal-fired power plants release 67 different air toxics, including known or probable human carcinogens. Mercury from coal contributes to mental retardation, brain damage, autism, learning disabilities and attention-deficit disorders. Ground-level ozone (smog) formed from coal emissions contributes to asthma, decreased lung function and respiratory symptoms that can lead to emergency department visits, hospital admissions and death.

Particulates and ozone from Michigan power plants are already estimated to kill 871 Michigan citizens each year and to cause 576 hospitalizations, 18,500 asthma attacks and 159,000 lost school or work days in the state.

In addition, global warming from coal’s carbon emissions increases the threat of intense storms, hurricanes, flooding and disease.

Viewed through this wider, more realistic lens, the real cost of coal — economic costs of health care and environmental destruction, and the physical and emotional cost in illnesses, suffering and lives lost — is unacceptably high. Efficiency and clean alternative forms of energy are clearly the way to go.

Dollar for dollar, and kwh per kwh, there’s no question that clean energy sources are more efficient and job creating than coal plants.

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