**Breaking News**
Victory in Texas ... Environmental Agreement Tied to Sale of Electricity Giant
Will Block Construction of Eight Dirty Coal-Fired Power Plants

Dear Marilyn,

Thanks to the generous support of our online activists and donors, today is a truly historic day in the fight against global warming.

News just broke that Texas Pacific Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. are seeking to acquire Texas-based energy giant TXU Corp.

As part of the sale agreement, Environmental Defense helped negotiate an aggressive environmental platform that will, among other things:

• Terminate plans for the construction of 8 of 11 coal-fired power plants TXU had hoped to build;
• Stop TXU's plans to expand coal operations in other states;
• Endorse the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) platform, including the call for a mandatory federal cap on carbon emissions; and
• Reduce the company's carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

Here's a story in The New York Times describing how Environmental Defense helped negotiate this deal.

This is a huge victory for the environmental community. It sends a clear message about the undeniable momentum in our campaign calling for federal global warming legislation.

The story behind today's announcement began last April when TXU announced alarming plans to build 11 dirty coal-fired power plants in Texas.

From the start, most business and political experts considered it a done deal. Texas Governor Rick Perry got personally involved, fast-tracking the permits and declaring "we're not going to let these bureaucrats jerk us around."

Even our own experts in our Texas office considered the odds of stopping the plants as remote, at best.

But the size of the proposal left us no choice but to aggressively oppose the plants. The 11 coal-fired plants would spew 78 million tons of global warming pollution per year, more than twice the expected carbon reductions from the historic California Clean Cars legislation.

So, Environmental Defense mobilized an all-out grassroots campaign targeting TXU and Texas Governor Rick Perry. Nearly 50,000 Environmental Defense members and activists took action, sending emails, attending public hearings across Texas and submitting public comments against the plants. More than 50 community and environmental groups signed on to our letter urging TXU to change its course.

We took out television, billboard and online ads. We reached out to allies in the Texas state legislature and we worked the legal and financial angles to keep the pressure on TXU.

Our efforts were designed to achieve three goals:

1. Stop as many of the plants as possible;
2. Prevent TXU from exporting its coal plant build-out to other states; and
3. Send a national message to other utility companies that the TXU plan is one they should reject.

It may have been a long shot when we started this campaign, but this weekend's news meets each of these goals.

I want to thank everyone who took action on this campaign and supported our work with generous donations or other actions. We couldn't have claimed this seemingly unattainable victory without your support.

Thanks for everything you help make possible,

Fred Krupp
President

_______________________________________________

WE TRULY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COUNTRY, OUR WORLD, OR OUR ENVIRONMENT IF WE TAKE AN ACTIVE STANCE! SEE WHAT JUST A LITTLE INVOLVEMENT CAN ACCOMPLISH?! PLEASE GET INVOLVED IN ISSUES THAT MEAN SOMETHING, OR THAT MATTER TO YOU!!

THANKS FOR HELPING....THIS IS VERY GOOD NEWS INDEED!

 

Thanks for the post.  I know that we have to take a stand and do the best we can to keep our environment as pristine as possible.  I believe in the fight to keep our forests healthy, to keep plastics and toxins out of our environment.

But I don't think that I am behind this movement to stop global warming.  Our earth has been constantly going through weather cycles since the beginning of time.  Alberta, where I live, was at one time in the tropics and it has also been in an ice age.  Could this phenomenom called global warming be a natural occurance?  M-m-m-m-m.........

And wouldn't lots of companies make lots of money by convincing people otherwise?

It is only a thought, but one we should explore before we jump on the bandwagon and believe all the propoganda that we hear.  No?

Thank you Marilyn for the info.   But, scientists disagree on global warming.  Here are some links to get the rest of the story on glabal warming.  Thanks for letting my air other views on global warming.

http://www.ourcivilisation.com/aginatur/moregw.htm

http://www.skepticism.net/articles/2002/000033.html

http://www.friendsofscience.org/index.php?ide=4

Thanks for taking a look at these links and getting all the facts before making a decision.

this is very important. thank you so much for posting it.
momsie

Well thank God I'm not the only one. I thought I might stir up a hornet's nest here. But less than one degree in a hundred years - give me a break. What about the Sun - does the Sun remain a constant temperature? Wouldn't our main source of heat have just a little something to do with earth's temperature ebb and flow? I'm all for cleaning up the rivers and forests and such but I have to take offense to the hysteria of MAN MADE GLOBAL WARMING. There are plenty of scientists on both sides of the issue and I believe there is no way we have enough data to reach the gigantic conclusion that WE are causing GLOBAL WARMING. It seems to me that it just may be a political ploy emanating from those I like to refer to as "The Flat Earth Society". Yes, I mean those who would like nothing better than to have a "Global" Level Playing Field. Yes, North America may be the richest area of the globe. But I say let the rest gain their status with Freedom and Capitalism as we have gained our riches. There are those who believe if you have more than you need you should give some to your neighbor. However I think there is someone much wiser who once said. Don't give a man a fish, teach him to fish. So I would rather not give up my SUV to save the planet. Cause I'm 6' 2", 220 lbs and I'd look really comical in a Mini Cooper! Actually, a better argument for you Greens, would be to tell us to drive a car with better gas milage so we won't be so dependant on foreign oil. Anyway, I know I'm getting long winded here but I think you get my drift. Oh, by the way, have you heard the latest? Now they are saying we should eat more vegetables instead of meat because the beef cattle flatulance is putting more CO2 into the air even than automobiles. So I ask you this; If we all start eating beans and tofu, won't that just replace the cow farts with human ones? Just a thought. Dave