I read an article by Marc Gunther in Fortune entitled, "A Texas Coal Rush." The article discusses how in the wake of many companies facing up to global warming and the need to be more eco-friendly, there is one company bucking the trend: TXU. TXU plans to build 11 new coal-fired power plants in Texas, costing nearly $1 billion each. Opponents of the plan, which include several celebrities such as Don Henley and the mayors of Houston and Dallas, fear the environmental impact of these new plants. Already, Texas is the top carbon emitter in the U.S. and these new plants alone could generate an additional 78 million (!) tons of carbon dioxide each year. I guess Mike McCall, CEO of TXU, has missed all of the films and press reports as to how global warming is already occurring and that we desperately need to reduce, not drastically raise, carbon dioxide emissions. His comeback is that our nation needs power now and in the future and that coal is American power that can make us more energy independent. He also touts the fact that new plants may lead to retiring of old plants and that the modern plants "will be designed so that someday they can be retrofitted to capture and store carbon" The operative word in that sentence is "someday." These plants will not capture carbon in the foreseeable future. Despite all of the protest, it appears that TXU will get its way; the new plants are projected to generate an additional $700 million in annual profits, which will make the company's shareholders happy.

This article was very discouraging, since it shows that the coal industry is booming rather than waning. I am sure that people like Mr. McCall live no where near one of their plants and as such, can probably distance themselves mentally from the sulfur dioxide, nitrgoen oxide and mercury pollution. They probably care little for what they are doing to areas around Texas where the plants are to be situated. These company officials simply look at averages--e.g. overall emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury will be 20% lower after the new plants are built and the old ones are retired. The residents near the plants look at the reality. As Jim Marston of Environmental Defense states, "You don't breathe average air....You breathe the air you breathe." The real test of this company's success in the future will be the global warming issue. If the nation does finally institute carbon emission caps, what will happen to the stock of TXU? Limiting carbon dioxide from these huge plants is sure to be costly. Or will TXU find a way around that by simply buying carbon credits in a cap and trade program for years and years down the line? Companies like TXU really make a mockery of our administration saying that global warming needs to be addressed.