Current Press Releases

Clean energy advocates petition Dominion Power to call off its dirty coal plant, invest in clean energy
May 8, 2008
Citizens from Wise County, where Dominion Power proposes building a controversial coal-fired power plant, and from across Virginia rallied in Richmond today to urge the company to drop the project and instead invest in energy efficiency and other clean sources of power. Representatives of the Wise Energy for Virginia coalition presented Dominion with a mile-long ribbon of paper with more than 42,400 signatures of people opposed to the coal plant.

Environmental groups to Duke: Stop illegal construction of Cliffside or face lawsuit
May 6, 2008
On behalf of four environmental groups, the Southern Environmental Law Center will put Duke Energy Carolinas on notice today that the company is violating the law by constructing a new unit at its Cliffside power plant without complying with Clean Air Act standards for mercury and other hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and that continuing to do so could result in a lawsuit. SELC will send the 60-day notice letter to Duke on behalf of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, National Parks Conservation Association, and the Sierra Club.

DOE pushes federal condemnation for coal by wire
April 30, 2008
Yesterday, six regional and national environmental and historic preservation organizations and one local government in Virginia filed a petition for judicial review of the Department of Energy’s final designation of the Mid-Atlantic and Southwest National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETC’s or National Corridors) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where similar petitions challenging this decision have been consolidated.

Federal judge approves agreement to preserve wildlife and recreation opportunities on Hatteras
April 30, 2008
U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle today approved a consent decree offered by the three parties involved in a lawsuit to regulate beach driving along Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The approval resolves the lawsuit which challenged an interim National Park Service plan to protect wildlife from the impacts of beach driving along the Seashore.

Environmental coalition exposes illegal mercury limits in DEQ permit for Wise County coal plant
April 21, 2008
A preliminary mercury pollution permit proposed for Dominion Power's coal-fired power plant in Wise County contains a built-in "out clause," drafted by the company, that would allow it to routinely exceed limits on emissions of the heavy metal - a neurotoxin linked to developmental damage in fetuses, children and adults. The draft permit is therefore illegal, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center in papers filed with the state Department of Environmental Quality.