Coal-free New England: making way for the region's clean energy future.

• Position: CLEAN ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE

CLF kicked its coal advocacy up a notch in 2010 with the Launch of its Coal-free New England campaign, an all-out strategy to kick New England's coal habit for good. With the convergence of increased renewable energy generation, tougher anti-pollution laws coming from the EPA and cheap natural gas, CLF saw an unprecedented opportunity to exploit the vulnerabilities of the region's aging fleet of coal-fired power plants, five of which are 50 years old or more. In 2010, CLF combined tenacious legal advocacy with regulatory expertise to shut down Somerset Station, one of the region's oldest, dirtiest coal plants, and bring an old foe, Salem Harbor Station, closer to the brink. Meanwhile, CLF worked strategically within the regulatory regime to help expedite planning for an electricity grid that does not rely on coal power to keep the lights on.

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CLF's Coal-free New England campaign is a crucial step towards creating a clean energy future for the region. Shutting down obsolete coal-fired power plants will eliminate a substantial source of the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change and will hasten a transition to clean, renewable energy along with its associated health, economic and environmental benefits. New England still relies on coal to meet about 10 percent of its energy demand. CLF is pursuing ways to replace that 10 percent with cleaner sources of energy, such as energy efficiency, hydropower and renewable generation like wind and solar, at reasonable cost and minimum impact to the environment.

HIGHLIGHTS

* CLF, in conjunction with Toxics Action Center and Somerset residents, succeeded in shutting down Somerset Station, a coal-fired power plant in Somerset, MA. Somerset shut down in January 2010 pending CLF's appeal of its permits to gasify coal and other fuel, including construction and demolition debris, at the plant. Under pressure from CLF and community activists, as well as economic realities, Somerset closed its doors permanently in February 2011.

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* After 20 years of advocacy against Salem Harbor Station, CLF and community activists cheered as the plant took key steps toward shutdown and owner Dominion Energy announced that it would not invest any further capital in Salem Harbor Station. While the plant is now slated for shutdown by 2014, CLF is working with ISO New England to expedite...