Moving beyond coal in New England: Maine community defeats power plant.

• Position: Brief article

Last November, residents of Wiscasset, Maine voted to reject a height ordinance change that would have advanced a proposed coal gasi~cation plant and diesel fuel refinery. The decision to defeat the proposal came after months of vigorous debate and opposition led by CLF Staff Attorney Steve Hinchman.

The proposed Twin River Project would have significantly increased global warming and mercury pollution in the surrounding area and turned the nearby Sheepscot River into a conduit for coal transport. Working with residents of Wiscasset and the lobster-fishing community, whose livelihoods depend upon clean and accessible waterways, Hinchman orchestrated a campaign that included detailed technological and economic critiques of the proposal. To demonstrate the substance and scope of their opposition to the plant, the fishing community protested by a flotilla of lobster boats in the Sheepscot River last summer.

CLF opposed the Wiscasset coal gasi~cation proposal, and is currently fighting the proposal to convert an existing plant in Somerset, MA to coal gasification. Contrary to claims of clean coal by...