Summary
- Coal plants are retiring throughout the United States.
- Michigan’s Environmental Law & Policy Center plan to transform retired coal mines into “hubs of renewable energy” could set a precedent for other regions to follow.
According to the Great Lakes Commission (GLC), the Great Lakes comprise more than 90 percent of the surface freshwater in the United States and about 20 percent for the entire world. The freshwater system is important in maintaining wildlife ecosystems, the regional economy, shipping routes, energy sources, and popular tourist attractions. The Great Lakes are also a vital source of drinking water for more than 40 million people throughout the United States and Canada. As such, it is crucial that care for the lakes is a priority not only for Michiganders, but for the United States and world as a whole. One major cause of concern has always been the effect of coal ash and other pollution produced by coal plants.
Coal plants in the vicinity of the Great Lakes have been a danger since their inception. Michigan’s Environmental Council (MEC) explains that coal plants produce a toxic residual called coal ash that can negatively affect wildlife and drinking water due to its high levels of mercury, lead, arsenic, and other toxic heavy metals. Coal ash may still be a cause of concern, but the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) makes clear that there has been a consistent reduction in the number of operating coal plants throughout the United States since reaching its coal generation peak in 2011. The IEEFA also affirms that 2011 was “the last year that coal accounted for more than 40% of annual electricity generation” and that this percentage is still steadily declining.
In 2013 there were 518 coal plants throughout the nation; 10 years later there were only 227. As of July 2024, Statista reports that the United States has 204 operating coal power plants––still the third most in the world, behind China and India. This shows the continuing decline from 227 plants in 2023 to 207 just a year later. The decline of coal plants can be attributed to a multitude of reasons: the fracking boom, stricter pollution standards, the general financial economy, and the nation's overall desire to go green.
Greener alternatives lead to more coal plants retiring and the lessening of issues stemming from them. The Great Lakes have benefitted from the steady decline of coal plants as some nearby have retired over the last few years. More specifically, units one (Karn 1) and two (Karn 2) of the Karn Coal Plant owned by Consumers Energy closed in 2023. The Midland Daily News relayed that Karn 1 and 2 had operated for 64 years in Essexville, Michigan, on the shore of the Saginaw Bay located within Lake Huron.
EcoWatch reports that Michigan’s Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) plans to turn what were once facilities of continuous contamination into “hubs of renewable energy, community collaboration and environmental solace.” The ELPC is one of the Midwest's leading nonprofit environmental law organizations, and its 2024 End of the Year Report shares the organization's excitement with their Power Plants to Parklands + Renewable Energy (P2P + RE) initiative.
The ELPC explains that throughout the Midwest there are more than 60 coal plants retired or in different phases of closing down. With its new project, ELPC hopes to “seize the once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform these lakefront and riverfront sites into parklands for public recreation and conservation.” The greenway plan aims to restore “public access to the Saginaw Bay & River waterfront that has been behind the plant’s fences for decades, opening opportunities for recreational use, conservation, and public enjoyment.” An electricity grid is already wired into the site, and Consumers Energy plans to develop 85 megawatts of solar energy there, in line with the ELPC’s plan.
ELPC’s board chair and executive director believe that this project is “an exciting and innovative precedent that can be replicated in transforming the hundreds of retired coal plant sites across the Midwest and nationally.” As stated in the ELPC’s End of the Year Report, if successful, it will be a new beginning for so many areas affected by the direct pollution created by coal mines and plants.
As more coal mines and plants across the nation shut down guided by green energy initiatives, the ELPC’s plans could set a great example for what could happen after their retirement. It is poetic in a way; the land that once housed a rippling pool of pollution can now grow into a haven of healing for the land itself, the surrounding environment, and nearby communities.