The Grand Rapids Press recently reported that the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit over a permit issued to a coal plant in Holland, Mich. The lawsuit claims that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality ignored state regulations when it approved the Holland plant’s air pollution permit. What the article didn’t mention was that the Sierra Club files lawsuits against every coal plant in the United States that is issued permits either to expand or build.

“They are very proud of this strategy,” said Carol Raulston, senior vice president for communications for the National Mining Association.

Ann Woiwode, director of the Michigan chapter of the Sierra Club, verified that her organization does file a lawsuit on every permit issued to a coal plant. She said that is part of a bigger strategy to oppose coal as an energy source.

“Yes, we are challenging permits when they are issued,” Woiwode said. “We are working to move away from coal. … We need to recognize that coal is a costly, dirty fuel.”

Lisa Camooso Miller, spokeswoman for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, said in an e-mail that she was disappointed the debate on clean energy has “reached this point.”

“The Sierra Club would prefer to lay the cost of debating the real issues at the feet of the taxpayers by burdening the courts with baseless lawsuits,” Miller said. “Clean coal technologies are being developed, and in some cases deployed, in many parts of the country — and the world. We don't have to sacrifice our economy for the environment. We can have both.”

The Holland Board of Public Works, which operates the coal plant, didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Michigan’s coal-burning power plants supplied 60 percent of the electricity used in the state, according to a Michigan Public Service Commission, Department of Labor and Economic Growth 2008 study.

The World Coal Association reports that coal accounts for 27 percent of the planet’s total energy usage and 41 percent of worldwide electricity generation.

The United States is home to the largest coal reserves on Earth, with 28.3 percent of the total, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Russia and China are next with 18.6 percent and 13.6 percent, respectively. By comparison, Saudi Arabia commands the world’s largest reserve of oil with less than 20 percent of the global total, followed by Canada with 13.3 percent. The abundance of wealth in coal located in the United States has led CNBC television commentator Larry Kudlow to refer to the United States as the “Saudi Arabia of Coal” during his frequent calls for an “America First” energy policy.

At current usage rates, the EIA projects that the current known recoverable American coal reserves will provide energy for about 230 more years, or roughly as long as the United States has existed as a nation. The EIA expects usage rates to climb, which would trim the lifespan of known U.S. reserves to just over 140 years — longer than coal has currently been in use as a primary source of electricity generation, which began in 1881.  

But the projections assume that no additional recoverable reserves will be discovered or be exploitable over these time periods.

Coal can also be converted to a liquid fuel for use in automobiles.

For the past few decades, Lansing resident John Pollard has spearheaded groups fighting against millage hikes for schools, libraries, transit and general funds. He finally decided to incorporate his efforts into one all-encompassing group: the “No More Taxes Committee.” “I was pre-tea party,” Pollard said.

“I believe in open, honest, transparent government loyal to the people. And if [the city] is asking for more money, but not being loyal to that, I get out and urge people to vote ‘no.’”

Pollard got active early this year when the City of Lansing asked voters last Tuesday for a 4-mill increase on property taxes expected to raise $8.5 million. The property tax hike was narrowly defeated — by about 600 votes.

The proposal would also have raised the cap on the city’s taxing authority set by the 1978 Headlee Amendment in the state constitution, which caps property taxes. Pollard says his group was out on the streets talking to people and putting up bright red “Vote NO” signs around town. He says all he had to do to get voters to change their minds was show them how confusing the ballot language actually was. He doesn’t feel the city is being honest with how they would use the new money.

“They sell this as ‘essential services,’ and then they decide what essential and necessary services are,” Pollard said. “What they call essential, I don’t call essential at all.”

“This is [supposed to be] going for police and fire. Well, how much for police? How much for fire?”

Jack McHugh, a legislative analyst at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said using public safety millages is often like trying to make someone pay extra for an engine after they've bought a car.

“When residents pay local property tax payments, they have a right to expect the core government services of fire and police will be the first things funded,” McHugh said. “People don't understand that public safety ‘enhancement’ millage money goes into the same pot that pays for much lower priority ‘extras’ that happen to be politically useful to municipal officials. So in the end, these ‘public safety’ millages are about preserving those low priority items, which is why they indicate bad faith by local politicians.”

According to the Lansing-based political newsletter MIRS Capitol Capsule (subscription required), Lansing's was one of only a few major millages to be defeated. While the most notable to go down were in Lansing and Garden City, rejection was not the norm across the state. Grand Rapids, Southfield, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Clawson, Sumpter Township, Flint, Saginaw County, Birch Run, North Muskegon, a variety of school districts, and many other local government units all passed tax hikes. Statewide, most millages passed by only a few percentage points.

But Pollard believes a little effort can go a long way. He said he concentrated on absentee voters, who were credited with taking down the tax hike. “All we did was go out and show people what the ballot language actually was,” he said. “After people saw it overriding Headlee, and read the fine print, they turned against it.”

With the failure of the millage, the $20 million city deficit is expected to be closed mostly by eliminating police and fire positions. But Pollard points out that though the cities of Ann Arbor and Lansing have nearly identical populations, Lansing has many more police and fire employees and spends a lot more money on them. According to the city, Ann Arbor has 124 sworn police officers and 89 firefighters. Lansing has 326 police employees, in which about 219 are sworn officers, and 225 fire department employees. The cuts are expected to bring Lansing down to 248 police employees and 154 fire employees.

Pollard believes that municipal governments should clearly explain to people why they need more funds. “I’m not interested in semantics,” he said. “Tell us what you’re doing with the money.”

“And if people don’t understand, they should vote ‘No.’ Just like they would on a contract or any other important document.”

The Lansing mayor and city council members did not return requests for comment.