EPA is challenging the environmental review of Nemadji Trail Energy Center.
Last year, we asked you speak out to stop a federally subsidized loan sought by Dairyland Power Cooperative to help fund the Nemadji Trail Energy Center. And you responded.
Hundreds of Clean Wisconsin Action Network members from across the state reached out to President Biden and federal lawmakers urging government officials to consider the climate impacts of the plant. In response, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service completed an additional environmental review that included climate impacts. However, the EPA says that review failed to include emissions caused by the plant’s construction and methane gas extraction and transportation. The EPA is now recommending that these additional climate impacts be considered.
The $700 million methane gas plant planned for Superior, Wis. would add nearly 3 million tons of carbon pollution into our environment every year. EPA regulators say damage from that pollution comes with an enormous price tag – more than $2 billion in climate damage costs through 2040.
“The time for moving away from fossil fuels is now. It’s probably yesterday, so this project shouldn’t move forward,” Clean Wisconsin attorney Katie Nekola told Wisconsin Public Radio in a recent interview. “If USDA’s (Rural Utilities Service) is going to invest in energy, it should be investing in clean energy — not carbon emitting sources.”
Federal officials will likely make a final decision on the project’s environmental impact later this fall and will use that information as they consider whether to grant Dairyland Power’s request for a loan. In the meantime, thank you. We couldn’t do this work without your support.
Click here to learn more about Clean Wisconsin’s Action Network.
