LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Retired second-grade teacher Jean Veselenak drove four hours to tell state regulators what she fears would happen if a new coal-fired power plant is built in her community along Lake Huron in northern Michigan. She believes the environment would be polluted with more mercury — a toxin that can damage children's nervous systems — and carbon dioxide, the primary global warming gas.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Retired second-grade teacher Jean Veselenak drove four hours to tell state regulators what she fears would happen if a new coal-fired power plant is built in her community along Lake Huron in northern Michigan.
She believes the environment would be polluted with more mercury — a toxin that can damage children's nervous systems — and carbon dioxide, the primary global warming gas.
"We're sacrificing our kids for corporate greed because we could do this a different way," the 67-year-old from Rogers City said before attending a packed public hearing this week at the state Department of Environmental Quality in Lansing.
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Wolverine Power Cooperative has proposed building the plant in Rogers City, and the DEQ has preliminarily determined that potential mercury pollution there would pose no meaningful risks. Neither Michigan nor the federal government regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
"It's the best permit that's ever been submitted in our state," said Craig Borr, executive vice president for the Cadillac-based power supplier.
But pressure is building on Gov. Jennifer Granholm to step in before environmental regulators in her administration issue permits for the state's first big coal plants in decades.
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