Although the clean energy economy is gaining steam and our use of coal is declining, my home region of Appalachia is still threatened by mountaintop removal coal mining.

We’ve seen it with the overturning of the veto for the massive Spruce No. 1 mountaintop removal coal site in West Virginia, we’ve seen it as West Virginians continue to fight Arch Coal for its plans to strip mine historic Blair Mountain – and those are just two examples. Day after day, families in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee continue to suffer from damaged homes, polluted air and water, and threats to their health caused by mountaintop removal.

It’s important to remember that these attacks on Appalachia’s mountains and communities don’t just come from coal companies, but also from the banks that finance these operations. Banks with household names are complicit in polluting our air and water, threatening the health of Appalachian families, and destroying our natural heritage.

That’s why today the Rainforest Action and Sierra Club are releasing a report detailing the five filthiest banks in our third annual “Coal Finance Report Card.” This year, we looked at not only financing of mountaintop removal, but also at financing of the coal fired power plants that are our nation’s biggest source of the sulfur pollution that harms our health, the mercury pollution that harms our children, and the carbon pollution that harms our planet.

The report looks at the stated policies for mountaintop removal and coal financing from each of the largest U.S. banks and assigns a letter grade to how well they uphold these policies based on investments, transactions, and ownership of coal mining and coal burning utility companies.

Here are the worst of the worst:

My colleague at RAN states it well: “These banks are the ATMs for a dirty industry that is bad for health and bad for business,” said Amanda Starbuck, Director of RAN’s Energy and Finance Program. “Coal is the ultimate subprime investment for the climate.”

We’re not the only organizations seeing the problem with financial organizations investing in dirty energy. This week also marks a huge 200-mile march across Pennsylvania by a coalition of groups hoping PNC Bank (headquartered in Pennsylvania) will stop financing mountaintop removal coal mining. Spread-headed by the Earth Quaker Action Team, the walk is part of their fantastic “Bank Like Appalachia Matters” campaign.

Through today’s report, Sierra Club and RAN are not only pointing out where banks are failing as energy and climate leaders, but also we are reaffirming our strong commitment to work with the companies to adopt and implement meaningful policies on coal.

Protecting the health and safety of our families is everyone’s responsibility – including those that fund this destructive and dirty practice.  We hope this report card helps draw attention and scrutiny to those who are bankrolling some of the biggest polluters in our country.

I want to share a story with you about an amazing event that took place this past Earth Day. For three days, in 100+ degree heat, Native Americans led a 50-mile march to draw attention to the devastating effects of coal pollution on their community.

The Sierra Club was proud to support the Moapa Band of Paiutes on their three-day, 50-mile cultural healing walk from their reservation to the Lloyd George Federal Building in Las Vegas in order to bring visibility to the damage that the Reid Gardner coal-fired power plant is doing to the tribe’s health, culture and economy. In the 50-mile march, tribal members and supporters from tribal nations across the Southwest walked from their homeland to the doorstep of federal decision makers.

“We were here, we are here, and we will be here,” Moapa Paiute member Calvin Meyers says of his tribe’s relationship to their historical lands.  The Moapa Band of Paiutes tribal lands abut Reid Gardner, Southern Nevada’s last coal-burning power plant, owned by NV Energy. Tribal members and local residents have been suffering for years from numerous pollution problems at the plant.

“It’s not just air pollution from the coal plant and its old boilers,” says Barb Boyle, a Senior Campaign Representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “There are also several settling ponds for coal ash residue, there are enormous piles of coal that are uncovered, and a huge coal ash landfill that is also uncovered.”

The toxic coal dust at Reid Gardner is picked up during Southern Nevada’s frequent wind storms, blows over tribal lands, the town of Moapa, Mesquite and up to pristine areas like the Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks, threatening public health and creating regional haze pollution. The tribe wants the plant retired and replaced with clean energy.

Tribal members suffer from asthma attacks, allergies, sinus problems, ear infections, and thyroid disease that they believe directly result from their constant exposure to particulates that blow from the toxic coal ash disposal ponds onto the tribal lands, covering their cars, their homes and their families.

“People on the Moapa reservation have high rates of lung and heart disease,” says Barb. “This is a tribe that has born this burden for decades. It’s time to stop.”

The Moapa cultural walk ended Sunday with a large rally where a hundred and fifty people listened to speakers call for the closure of the Reid Gardner coal plant, and heard moving stories of the health problems for the young and old in the Moapa community. Members of the Moapa Pauites, the Las Vegas Paiutes, and the Shivwitts of Utah spoke about the dirty coal plant in their native languages, and performed traditional dances and songs.

Here’s a great TV news clip from the rally.

The next step happens on May 3, when EPA holds a public hearing on the Moapa reservation regarding a pollution permit for Reid Gardner. There’s another hearing on the same day just down the road from the reservation as well. Sign up here to attend the hearings.

“We want to get this plant retired as soon as possible,” Barb says. “That area has an amazing array of renewable energy resources – it’s a perfect place for solar power. The Moapa tribe is already working on a 350-megawatt solar system for their land.”

We can do better than coal – for the Moapa Band of Paiutes, other Native American tribes, and all Americans.

Photos by Alan Goya.

Last week we introduced you to Mr. Coal Guy, a coal industry executive with a penchant for 80s television. As he dubs over some classic TV programming, you realize that coal companies will say anything to prevent us from moving Beyond Coal.

Today, we’re excited to launch the latest video in this series, starring two guys in golden jumpsuits – click here to watch.

We’re releasing this new video just as the coal industry is launching some misleading ads, reaching into their deep pockets to kick off a brand new $40 million ad campaign that will try to paint a rosier picture. But just like the tobacco companies before them, it’s clear that they will say anything to hide the truth that coal is killing Americans. While they’re trying to make the case that our country’s future depends on coal, we know that clean energy innovation is the real key to creating jobs and keeping America competitive – without making our families sick or disrupting our climate. It’s time to move beyond coal and make Mr. Coal Guy history.

Since we launched the videos, the response has been incredible. The videos have been viewed more than 300,000 times and the buzz on Twitter and Facebook continues to grow. While these videos are meant to be funny, the message is serious: coal is a dirty fuel that is making our country sick.

We need your help – share the new video and spread the word!

The pollution caused by coal is serious business, as are the devastating affects coal pollution has on our health, our mountains, our air and water, and our planet. But sometimes the claims made by coal boosters are truly absurd, and the Sierra Club has just launched a new series of videos spoofing industry attempts to dismiss the very real harm that coal pollution causes.

I may be dating myself here, but I grew up watching the PBS classics, and so one of my favorite videos in the series is the one featuring painter Bob Ross. He always made it look so easy to plant those happy little trees. In our new video, a coal executive does a voiceover for Bob Ross as he paints a mountain: “Now, you can see where we’ve blown the mountaintop, exposing the coal. Scrapey scrapey, good bye lakey! And all the rivers and creatures as well.”

Watch Bob Ross and Mr. Coal

I hope you’ll check out the full set of videos here, and then share them with your friends – we launched these two videos this week, and we’ll be releasing three more in the coming weeks. You can also “like” Mr. Coal on Facebook and follow him on Twitter for more of his crazy talk.

Watch the second Mr. Coal video

These videos underscore how truly ridiculous it is for the industry to claim coal is safe and harmless. After all, every year, coal pollution contributes to 13,000 premature deaths, triggers 200,000 asthma attacks, and exposes 300,000 newborn babies to dangerous levels of mercury. Mountaintop removal operations have blown up over 500 mountains, and buried over 2,000 miles of streams with rock and debris.

That’s why Americans have rejected 166 new coal fired power plants, and why over 100 plants are now announced for retirement. America is moving beyond coal, to clean energy solutions like energy efficiency, wind, and solar that are creating tens of thousands of jobs, and sparking innovation that will power our country and our economy in the 21st century.

So help us spread the word. Enjoy these videos, and tell your friends – coal will say anything!

Today, our nation is taking a historic step for our health and our children’s future. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Obama Administration have just announced new carbon pollution safeguards that will protect clean air and the planet, while also spurring innovation and creating jobs in the clean energy economy.

Carbon pollution is linked to life-threatening air pollution like the smog that triggers asthma attacks, and it is the main contributor to climate disruption – making it a serious hazard to Americans’ health and future.

EPA today established new proposed safeguards under the Clean Air Act to protect Americans from dangerous carbon pollution produced by new coal plants.

These standards will protect Americans’ health, our economy and the future of our children, from carbon’s threats. Before today, there were no limits on the amount of carbon being spewed into the air by the nation’s largest sources of carbon pollution: dirty coal-fired power plants.

Concerned about these dangers, Americans have repeatedly said no to new coal-fired power plants for the past decade, defeating 166 proposed coal plants across the nation. Now, as the Sierra Club’s executive director, Michael Brune, said today in a press statement, “These first-ever carbon pollution standards for new power plants mean that business as usual for the nation’s biggest sources of carbon pollution, dirty coal-burning utilities, is over.”

As I’ve said before, a growing body of scientific evidence shows that warming temperatures caused by industrial carbon pollution pose a number of threats to our health and families, including worsening smog pollution, which in turn triggers asthma attacks and other respiratory illnesses.

Doctors, nurses, scientists and other experts say that this increased smog pollution is especially dangerous for children because it permanently damages and reduces the function of children’s lungs – a major concern for all my fellow parents out there.

These new air quality protections are a historic step forward in allowing EPA to focus on the industries that create the lion’s share of the nation’s carbon pollution, because it is time to hold big polluters accountable for the pollutants they spew into our air.

Over 120 health organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Lung Association, American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, American Thoracic Society and others are on record stating:

Climate change is a serious public health issue. As temperatures rise, more Americans will be exposed to conditions that can result in illness and death due to respiratory illness, heat- and weather-related stress and disease carried by insects. These health issues are likely to have the greatest impact on our most vulnerable communities, including children, older adults, those with serious health conditions and the most economically disadvantaged.

Clean Air Act protections like these also spur innovation and modernization in our energy sector, creating much-needed jobs, protecting public health and tackling climate disruption. Countries around the world are racing to see who will lead the clean energy future, and we cannot afford to let American fall behind. These new protections will help ensure our nation is leading the way in developing the cutting-edge clean energy technologies of the 21st century.

Every family has the right to breathe clean air, free from the toxic pollution that has taken too many lives and destroyed too many communities. We cannot accept more dirty coal while our friends and family miss days of school and work, ending up in the emergency room instead. Or while American workers remain off the job, when clean energy projects could create thousands of sustainable careers. Or while the fate of our planet hangs in the balance, as global temperatures rise.

By establishing carbon pollution protections, the EPA is moving forward to clean up and modernize the way we power our country – a move that will make for healthier kids, families and workers, while creating much-needed jobs and fighting climate disruption.

As coal use drops dramatically in the U.S. and clean energy continues to grow, King Coal is looking for new customers. The coal industry is now pursuing its corporate profits via coal exports at the expense of the health, safety, and quality of life of thousands of families in several states, including Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

Right now, several major coal companies are proposing to develop Northwest ports to export coal from the Powder River Basin to Asia; including ports at Cherry Point, WA; Longview, WA; Grays Harbor, WA; Coos Bay, OR; St. Helens, OR; and Port of Morrow, OR. You can see a map of the proposed ports here.

Coal exports could make thousands of Northwest residents sick with serious respiratory health problems in cities along the rail line, while fouling the air and water that farms and Main Street businesses depend on.  For residents in Montana who have been battling the effects of coal mining in the Powder River Basin, the idea of coal companies tightening their grip on their resources and quality of life to tap international markets is particularly threatening.

Millennium Bulk Terminals’ recent permit application for Longview, Washington, proposes exporting 44 million tons of coal annually, making it the largest coal terminal on the West Coast.

In February 2011, the company was exposed for deceiving Washington state officials about the amount of coal to be exported from the Longview terminal – although the company originally claimed they would only export five million tons of coal per year, news coverage revealed they actually planned to ship up to 60 million tons per year. Decision-makers sent them back to the drawing board, and now they’re pushing for the terminal yet again.

Another active coal export proposal is at Cherry Point near Bellingham, Washington, where SSA Marine’s Gateway Pacific Terminal would handle up to 48 million tons of coal annually. The health and environmental effects would be drastic in this beautiful coastal area north of Puget Sound, as coal piles and massive diesel tanker ships contaminate waterways and devastate local fishing and tourism industries.

Meanwhile, three other questionable coal export proposals are active in Oregon and Washington. In these projects, the coal companies are trying to bypass the public permitting process by negotiating with municipalities without public comment or input.

The International Port of Coos Bay in Oregon has been especially secretive, keeping coal export development plans behind closed doors. The Sierra Club recently filed a legal challenge in order to obtain more information about the plan.  The Port of Coos Bay has already secured a state dredging permit which would be the largest in state history and could devastate local oyster farming and fishing industries.

We can’t let coal companies make huge profits at the expense of these communities’ public health, economies, and environment – not to mention at the expense of climate disruption on our planet as they export US coal for others to burn, polluting communities every step of the way, including those living near huge power plants abroad.

This summer, officials from local counties, the Washington state Department of Ecology, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are collaborating on a statewide environmental review process of these proposals.  It’s critical that Northwest leadership ensure state and federal agencies fully analyze all the health and environmental impacts of exporting coal from the Powder River Basin through any Northwest Port.

The Sierra Club’s “Coal-Free Northwest” campaign and the Power Past Coal Coalition are mounting an effort to ensure that public agencies fully and fairly consider impacts on communities across the region in their permitting process for the coal export terminals at Cherry Point and Longview – and beyond.

We are determined to stop these dirty coal exports across the region and instead build a clean energy future that protects the Pacific Northwest’s environment, health and economy.

Photo by Paul K. Anderson.

We are more thankful than ever for the recent mercury and air toxics protections released by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and the Obama Administration.

Unfortunately – but not surprisingly – some polluters filed legal challenges to the new mercury protections on the very day they went into effect. While some are attacking these standards on behalf of big polluters like the coal industry, we are joined by hundreds of thousands of Americans who want these protections to keep them safe from mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants, such as arsenic, nickel, selenium, cyanide and acid gases. Some of those grateful Americans are featured in this thank you video we’re releasing today – I hope you’ll check it out.

As a mom, I’m especially aware that mercury, a dangerous neurotoxin, poses a particular threat to pregnant women and young children. Exposure affects a developing child’s ability to walk, talk, read, write and learn. The Centers for Disease Control, along with EPA, estimate that as many as 1 in 6 women of childbearing age have high enough mercury levels in their blood to harm a developing fetus. Additionally, this protection will reduce exposure to a host of other health-threatening toxics.

These strong new standards will ensure that more than 90% of the mercury from coal-burning plants is cleaned up, and each year will prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks, and 130,000 asthma attacks.

Now we are on the verge of seeing EPA’s proposed carbon pollution standards. Carbon pollution poses serious threats to Americans’ health, our economy and the future of our children, but there are currently no federal limits on the amount of carbon being spewed into the air by the nation’s largest sources of carbon pollution – dirty coal-fired power plants.

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that warming temperatures caused by industrial carbon pollution worsen smog pollution, which in turn triggers asthma attacks and other respiratory illnesses. Doctors, nurses, scientists and other experts say that this increased smog pollution is especially dangerous for children because it permanently damages and reduces the function of children’s lungs – again, a major concern for all my fellow parents out there.

And of course, as with the mercury safeguards, big polluters are lining up in advance to challenge these protections. In response, we started running a new TV ad this week in several states that asks this simple question: What if polluter lobbyists in Washington were replaced with asthmatic children?

We support strong clean air standards that will safeguard our health, our families, and our planet. Clean, healthy air and water are fundamental American rights.  Join us in thanking the Obama Administration for standing up for public health, clean air, and clean water.

And tell EPA that Americans support industrial carbon pollution protections!

Today the Sierra Club and lovers of clean air nationwide reached a major milestone for public health. Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign joined with allies to mark the 100th coal plant retirement announced since January 2010.

The Crawford coal plant Chicago, Illinois, became the 100th coal plant to set plans to retire. This Midwest Gen owned plant is one of 9 coal-fired plants from Chicago to Pennsylvania that announced plans to retire today. You can learn more about the Chicago plants in my column from earlier today, and about the seven GenOn plants being retired in this press release.

City by city, town by town, communities are standing up and saying no to coal, and saying yes to clean energy. This milestone demonstrates that a shift is well underway across the country, and we will not power our future with the energy sources of the 19th century. The Beyond Coal campaign’s goal is to retire one third of America’s polluting coal plants by the year 2020 and replacing that power with clean energy like wind, solar, and energy efficiency.

Now we must ensure that the transition from coal to clean energy happens in a way that protects workers and communities. We’ve seen it happen before – from the Pacific Northwest to the Tennessee Valley – and today we call on GenOn nd Midwest Gento ensure jobs for the workers now at these plants.

Today’s announcement is a tremendous victory for public health. Pollution from coal-fired power plants contributes to a host of health problems, including respiratory illnesses and asthma attacks, heart disease and cancer. Coal mining is also being linked to serious health effects, like increased rates of cancer and birth defects near mountaintop removal mines in Appalachia. Retirement of these 100 plants is estimated to prevent more than 2,042 premature deaths, 3,299 heart attacks and 33,053 asthma attacks, according to the Clean Air Task Force.

In addition to securing retirement dates for 100 coal plants nationwide, the Beyond Coal campaign has prevented 166 proposed new coal plants from being built, since 2002. The campaign estimates that these preventions and closures have led to 50,000 megawatts of new clean energy projects across the country.

The Beyond Coal campaign had very humble beginnings back in 2002, when a handful of volunteers and a lone staff person decided to stand in the way of a tsunami of new coal plants proposed by the Bush administration. Ten years later, we are a movement and a powerhouse that is changing the way America produces energy, and slashing the pollution that threatens our health, our homes, and our climate.

I am constantly amazed and energized by the volunteers, allies, and organizers who are part of our Beyond Coal effort. Just look at some of what has been accomplished to date:

• Proposals for 166 new coal-fired power plants have been abandoned, opening market space for clean energy.

• We have secured retirement dates for 106 existing plants since January 2010, meaning nearly 20% of the nation’s current coal plants are now slated for retirement.

• New mountaintop removal mining permits have slowed to a trickle.

• Nineteen colleges and universities have won fights to phase out coal plants on their campuses, thanks in large part to the Sierra Student Coalition.

• Hundreds of thousands of people mobilized in support of strong clean air and water protections, including submitting a record number of comments – almost 800,000 – in support of new national mercury standards.

• We won the biggest clean air agreement in the history of the Southeast when the Tennessee Valley Authority announced it would retire 18 dirty, outdated coal units.

• We won the retirement of the only two coal plants in Oregon and Washington.

Working with local people in neighborhoods across the country and dozens of allied organizations, Sierra Club organizers have been fighting Big Coal’s efforts to push through the dozens and dozens of new plants since the early 2000s. Together, they achieved one victory after another. Now, by retiring existing coal plants, we are saving lives, saving mountains, and saving the planet – all while clearing a path for clean energy.

Take a moment to celebrate this milestone for public health and the environment today. Then it’s time to get back to work building a clean energy economy that will create jobs and protect our health.

Tremendous news – today Chicagoans are celebrating a huge public health victory as Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Midwest Generation announced the planned retirement of the Fisk and Crawford coal plants. These are two of the oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants in the nation, and they’re located in the heart of Chicago’s Southwest side.

This announcement comes after years of pressure from local citizens and numerous organizations, including the Sierra Club – over 60 groups have worked together to make this historic day possible. The local communities affected most by these plants have done the heaviest lifting to get these coal plants retired. This announcement is the culmination of many years of hard work by those families and concerned residents in Pilsen and Little Village, and this victory belongs to them.

Here are words from one of those great local activists: “This victory proves that when communities and organizations work together, they can stop big polluters in their tracks. This is the first of many victories to come in Illinois, as people from all different backgrounds will come together to move coal out of their back yards and bring clean air and clean jobs to their neighborhoods,” Rosalie Mancera of the Pilsen Alliance.

Pollution from these coal plants has been making local residents sick for over 100 years, since way back in 1903, contributing to asthma attacks, respiratory illnesses and other health problems. The Sierra Club has worked with local community groups on an extensive organizing campaign to retire these coal plants, due to the threat they posed every day to the health of Chicago families.

“This is a grassroots victory for environmental justice. Over the past year-and-a-half, hundreds of Chicagoans have logged calls to their Aldermen, to the Mayor, to Midwest Generation, delivered thousands of postcards and petitions, marched in the streets and demanded that every person, regardless of who they are where they live, has the right to breathe clean air,” said Tony Fuller, volunteer for the Sierra Club.

These communities were suffering the brunt of serious health problems for electricity sent to other parts of the country.In fact, the coal burned in these plants is brought in from Wyoming, the power is sold out of state, and the profits go to a California-based company, leaving Chicago to deal with the pollution.

The announcement set the retirement date for 2012 for the Fisk plant in Pilsen, and 2014 for the Crawford plant in Little Village. Mayor Emanuel knows that moving Chicago from coal to clean energy works for all of us, and we applaud him for his efforts to bring cleaner air to Pilsen, Little Village, and all of Chicago. Now, as America transitions away from coal, we call on Midwest Generation and other power companies to ensure that communities, workers and families will have a just and stable transition from working with coal to becoming leaders in a clean energy future.

Now is Midwest Generation’s chance to increase investments in energy efficiency, create new jobs in Chicago, and assist the workers and community with a smooth transition to a clean energy future.

Chicago is the only major metropolitan area with not one, but two polluting coal plants within the city limits, and the Sierra Club has been an active member of the Chicago Clean Power Coalition which has been encouraging Mayor Emanuel to retire these two Midwest Generation plants. We salute all our partners who worked so hard to make this historic day possible.

The Fisk and Crawford plants now join the ranks of polluting coal plants like Cane Run in Louisville, Kentucky and GenOn in Alexandria, VA that have been announced for retirement in recent months.

The Beyond Coal Campaign aims to replace dirty, polluting coal-fired power plants with clean energy like wind and solar power. The campaign has stopped more than 160 coal plants from breaking ground, and the number of planned retirements continues to grow as the nation transitions to a clean energy future. The Fisk and Crawford plants are the 97th and 98th existing coal plants announced for retirement in the US since January of 2010, accelerating our momentum towards a nation powered by clean energy.

Photo courtesy of the Chicago Clean Power Coalition.

Sierra Club Virginia hands out Valentines to those who love clean air.

The big news today is that the long –awaited mercury standards for mercury emissions from coal plants are now on the books, published today in the Federal Register. That’s great news, and it also starts the clock ticking for attacks on the rule.

Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma is first out of the gate, announcing that he will file an official challenge to the safeguard in Congress. So for the 800,000+ of you who sent in a comment in support of these new protections, please watch this space for future details on how you can help us defend these life-saving standards, and push back against this and future attempts by Congress to repeal the mercury protections.

At the same time, communities nationwide are taking action on coal and clean energy, and today I wanted to highlight some of their great recent events. These amazing local activists remind of this famous Margaret Mead quote:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

I’ll start with my favorite piece of news so far, which comes from Vermont. Following up my column last week, here’s some great work to make sure new clean energy jobs are union jobs. From Sierra Club Vermont:

Green Mountain Power is currently building a wind farm in Lowell, Vermont. This wind farm will provide green electricity for up to 15,000 homes. However, up until this week, not one single union member has been employed on this major construction project. In short, livable wages were not guaranteed and many jobs were going to out-of-staters. As of this week, Vermont union Iron Workers from Local 7 will be working on this project. Through the joint efforts of organized labor, the Vermont Sierra Club, and our partners in 350.org, we have compelled Green Mountain Power to take one positive step in a very good direction.

Amazing work, Vermont!

Now, because we had our most romantic of holidays this week, I also want to highlight the especially creative Valentine’s Day actions several groups took part in. First, in Marietta, Georgia, activists gathered yesterday to thank Cobb Electric Membership Cooperative (EMC), a major electricity cooperative, for “breaking up” with coal last month, and to encourage them to fall in love with clean energy.

The Georgia Sierra Club joined with coalition members at Cobb EMC headquarters to deliver 1,000 letters thanking the utility for its January decision to stop investments into two coal-fired power plants.  The letters, including a giant Valentine’s Day card, were written by EMC customers and clean energy advocates from around Georgia.

“Cobb EMC’s decision to break-up with coal shows the new leaders are looking out for members,” said Don Dressel, EMC member and volunteer with the Sierra Club. “Customers are happy that our EMC is moving in the right direction. Now, we can invest in smart energy efficiency and renewable energy programs that will lower our rates and move us forward. That will be a huge boon for EMC members.”

Sierra Club Virginia also took on the Valentine’s Day spirit Tuesday, when they visited Senator Jim Webb’s Richmond office and encouraged him, via hand-made Valentine’s cards, to defend the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to protect clean air. “We <3 Clean Air!” read the cards.

The chapter also joined Virginia Organizing for the “General Assembly – You Broke Our Hearts” event. Hundreds of activists gathered at the Virginia General Assembly building and said that the General Assembly had “broken our hearts” by focusing on weakening the Renewable Portfolio Standard and a host of other progressive issues that we were disappointed in.

And in Los Angeles, our activists kicked off a creative online campaign asking L.A. to break up with coal and fall in love with clean energy jobs. If you want to help, you can take action.

Finally this week, I want to highlight some amazing scientific work from the Pennsylvania Sierra Club. Activists are taking on the Homer City Generating Station in Homer City, because it is among the worst polluters in the country.

Through modeling, our folks discovered that:

The 1,884-megawatt power plant — one of the biggest in the nation — released more sulfur dioxide than any other plant in the U.S. last year and enough to violate federal air pollution standards and its state operating permit.

“The report’s modeling of emissions shows that in … three years, from 2008 through 2010, it was violating its state permit and causing ambient pollution concentrations to be above the health-based standards,” said Zack Fabish, an attorney with the Sierra Club. He noted that the power plant wasn’t cited for violating the standards because of the lack of state monitors downwind from the plant to measure the pollution.

Nationwide, communities are saying “No more!” when it comes to dirty coal. Americans are falling in love with clean energy and the good jobs it will bring.