Proposed Coal Plant Recieves Mixed Reactions
By: Monica Tassoni
Updated: April 6, 2011
The plant is called a "clean coal plant" because it captures 90 percent of its CO2 emissions. This plant could bring international attention to the Permian Basin. On top of producing energy from coal, the captured CO2 will be used to enhance oil recovery, which is of course the top industry in West Texas.
"It's the first time these technologies have been coupled together," said Mark McKoy, Environmental Manager, Department of Energy.
The project is also expected to produce jobs. More than 8,000 jobs would be available for the construction of the site alone.
"Afterward there will be jobs created with the operation of the plant," said McKoy. "These will be long term jobs."
But not all residents are happy about the new plant. To cool the chemical blocks, the site would need 4 million gallons of water a day. Some think providing that mush water is a foolish thing to do in our desert climate.
"There wanting to use a lot of water and what people don't realize is that this is the desert," said Schuyler Wight, a rancher from near Odessa. "Its fool hardy to build something like this that uses a lot of water."
Most of the speakers who attended the meeting were ranchers who all had the same concern. They were worried that the plant might need more water than we have in West Texas. The Department of Energy promised to take their concerns into consideration when coming up the revised document, which will come out sometime this summer.
