Mark Kresowik, Northeast Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, will visit the UMass Amherst campus on Thursday, February 24, to discuss his organization’s efforts to promote alternatives to coal-fired power plants. The talk, which takes place at 1 p.m. in Gordon Hall 302-304, is sponsored by the Policy and Administration Graduate Council (PAGC) of the Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA). Drew Grande, Beyond Coal coordinator for Massachusetts, will join Kresowik for the talk.
Kresowik and Grande will discuss the role of coal-fired plants in producing a range of problems nationally and locally. For example, air toxics such as mercury, arsenic, and lead are by-products of coal burning and known threats to public health, contributing to problems ranging from childhood asthma to cancer and birth defects. Coal-powered plants are also estimated to contribute up to 30% of the pollution leading to climate change. In Massachusetts, coal burning plants are the state’s largest air polluters.
An important premise of the Beyond Coal Campaign is that smarter energy solutions also make good economic sense. Kresowik and Grande will talk about these smarter energy solutions, as well as the recent policy successes of the Beyond Coal Campaign.
This talk is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Peter Vickery (pvickery@admin.umass.edu) or go to www.masspolicy.org.