Amaren
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=</p><p><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren</a></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Ameren</b> <b>is a St. Louis-based corporation and among the nation's biggest investor-owned electric and gas utilities, with approximately $23 billion in assets. </b>The largest electric utility in Missouri and the second largest in Illinois, Ameren companies provide energy services to 2.3 million electric customers throughout its 64,000-square-mile territory.<sup id="cite_ref-Ameren_2-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-Ameren-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[2]</a></sup></p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Ties_to_the_American_Legislative_Exchange_Council">Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ameren is a member of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council" title="American Legislative Exchange Council" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">American Legislative Exchange Council</a> (ALEC) as of 2011. It sponsored "Missouri Night" at Antoine's Restaurant in New Orleans during the 2011 ALEC Annual Meeting.<sup id="cite_ref-SLPD_3-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-SLPD-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[3]</a></sup> It has been a member of ALEC since at least 2003.<sup id="cite_ref-ALEC_Watch_4-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-ALEC_Watch-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[4]</a></sup></p><table style="font-size: 13px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 19.200000762939453px; vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid rgb(201, 215, 240); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><tbody><tr><th style="font-size: 18px; border: 1px solid rgb(64, 127, 212); color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0.2em 0.4em; background: rgb(41, 102, 184);">About ALEC</th></tr><tr><td><div style="padding: 2px 5px; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC" title="ALEC" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">ALEC</a> is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alecexposed.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">ALECexposed.org</a>, and check out breaking news on our <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">PRWatch.org site</a>.</div></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="History">History</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Created by the year-end 1997 merger of Union Electric Company and CIPSCO, parent of Central Illinois Public Service Company, the company grew in 2003 with the acquisition of CILCORP, the parent of Central Illinois Light Company and again in 2004 with the acquisition of Illinois Power Company. At the end of 2009 it was announced that Ameren Energy Resources had spent $1 billion for the installation of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scrubbers" title="Scrubbers" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">scrubbers</a> at two of its facilities, including the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Duck_Creek_Station" title="Duck Creek Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Duck Creek Station</a> and the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coffeen_Power_Station" title="Coffeen Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Coffeen Power Station</a>. The scrubbers reduce nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[5]</a></sup></p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Political_contributions">Political contributions</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ameren is one of the largest energy company contributors to both Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress. These contributions total $132,500 to the 110th US Congress (as of the third quarter), the largest of which has been to <font color="#ff0000">Rep. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Roy_Blunt" title="Roy Blunt" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">Roy Blunt</a>, </font>who in 2007-2008 took $51,500 from coal-related companies of which $12,500 was from Ameren.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[6]</a></sup> More information on coal industry contributions to Congress can be found at <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.followthecoalmoney.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">FollowtheCoalMoney.org</a>, a project sponsored by the nonpartisan, nonprofit <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.priceofoil.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">Oil Change International</a> and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.appalachianvoices.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">Appalachian Voices</a>.</p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Lobbyists">Lobbyists</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ameren paid $60,000 for the services of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bryan_Cave_Strategies" title="Bryan Cave Strategies" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Bryan Cave Strategies</a> LLC in 2008.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[7]</a></sup> The registered lobbyists were <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Matt_Jessee" title="Matt Jessee" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Matt Jessee</a>, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_Russell" title="David Russell" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">David Russell</a>. Ameren spent another $160,000 on <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ogilvy_Government_Relations" title="Ogilvy Government Relations" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Ogilvy Government Relations</a> in 2008 and 40,000 so far in 2009.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[8]</a></sup> The registered lobbyists were <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Chris_Giblin" title="Chris Giblin" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Chris Giblin</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Drew_Maloney" title="Drew Maloney" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Drew Maloney</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Julie_Dammann" title="Julie Dammann" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Julie Dammann</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wayne_Berman" title="Wayne Berman" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Wayne Berman</a>, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Green" title="John Green" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">John Green</a>. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Elmendorf_Strategies" title="Elmendorf Strategies" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Elmendorf Strategies</a> LLC received $90,000 from Ameren in 2008 and $30,000 in 2009.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[9]</a></sup> The registered lobbyists were <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Robert_Cogorno" title="Robert Cogorno" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Robert Cogorno</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Steven_Elmendorf" title="Steven Elmendorf" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Steven Elmendorf</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/James_Houton" title="James Houton" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">James Houton</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Kristina_Kennedy" title="Kristina Kennedy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Kristina Kennedy</a>, and<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Shanti_Stanton" title="Shanti Stanton" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Shanti Stanton</a> in 2008 with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Barry_LaSala" title="Barry LaSala" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Barry LaSala</a> joining the team in 2009. Ameren also spent $78,000 on <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bracewell%26_Giuliani" title="Bracewell & Giuliani" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Bracewell & Giuliani</a> in 2008 and another $50,000 in 2009.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[10]</a></sup> The registered lobbyists were <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_H.Segal" title="Scott H. Segal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Scott H. Segal</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jeffrey_Holmstead" title="Jeffrey Holmstead" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Jeffrey Holmstead</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edward_Krenik" title="Edward Krenik" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Edward Krenik</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Joshua_Zive" title="Joshua Zive" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Joshua Zive</a>, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/E.Dee_Martin" title="E. Dee Martin" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">E. Dee Martin</a>. They have also used the lobbying firms the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Gephardt_Group_Government_Affairs&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Gephardt Group Government Affairs (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background: none;">Gephardt Group Government Affairs</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Barnes%26_Thornburg" title="Barnes & Thornburg" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Barnes & Thornburg</a>, and their own in-house services arm, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ameren_Services&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ameren Services (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background: none;">Ameren Services</a>. Together the utility spent $2.36 million on lobbying the federal legislature in the first six months of 2009 alone.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[11]</a></sup></p><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Front_groups">Front groups</span></h3><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ameren is a member of the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Coal_Ash_Association" title="American Coal Ash Association" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">American Coal Ash Association</a> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">(ACAA), an umbrella lobbying </span><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Front_group" title="Front group" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">front group</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> for </span><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_ash" title="Coal ash" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">coal ash</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> interests that includes major coal burners </span><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Duke_Energy" title="Duke Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Duke Energy</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, </span><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Southern_Company" title="Southern Company" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Southern Company</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and </span><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Electric_Power" title="American Electric Power" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-color: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">American Electric Power</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> as well as dozens of other companies. The group argues that the so-called "beneficial-use industry" would be eliminated if a "hazardous" designation was given for coal ash waste.</span><sup id="cite_ref-desmog_12-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-desmog-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[12]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ACAA set up a front group called <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_for_Recycling_First" title="Citizens for Recycling First" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Citizens for Recycling First</a>, which argues that using toxic coal ash as fill in other products is safe, despite evidence to the contrary.<sup id="cite_ref-desmog_12-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-desmog-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[12]</a></sup></p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Negative_tax_rate">Negative tax rate</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A 2011 analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers/CorporateTaxDodgersReport.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAATklEQVR4XmXKQQqAMAwF0X/7XsSz9CSKiyIIFRFcjMmihmiGbB5fqDCaQJ4j46pzYLUWe+cXZ6OVBhTS0srY2Njp/+XxXXZOLu6EUWAOPX1vnwTBe6qQAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">"Corporate Taxpayers & Corporate Tax Dodgers: 2008-10"</a> found dozens of companies, including fossil fuels, used tax breaks and various tax dodging methods to have a negative tax balance between 2008 and 2010, while making billions in profits. The study found 32 companies in the fossil-fuel industry -- such as <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Peabody_Energy" title="Peabody Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Peabody Energy</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ConEd" title="ConEd" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">ConEd</a>, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/PG%26E" title="PG&E" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">PG&E</a> -- transformed a tax responsibility of $17.3 billion on $49.4 billion in pretax profits into a tax benefit of $6.5 billion, for a net gain of $24 billion.</p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The companies that paid no tax for at least one year between 2008 and 2010 are the utilities <strong class="selflink">Ameren</strong>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/American_Electric_Power" title="American Electric Power" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">American Electric Power</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=CenterPoint_Energy&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="CenterPoint Energy (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background: none;">CenterPoint Energy</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/CMS_Energy" title="CMS Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">CMS Energy</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Consolidated_Edison" title="Consolidated Edison" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Consolidated Edison</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/DTE_Energy" title="DTE Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">DTE Energy</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Duke_Energy" title="Duke Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Duke Energy</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Entergy" title="Entergy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Entergy</a>,<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/FirstEnergy" title="FirstEnergy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">FirstEnergy</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Integrys" title="Integrys" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Integrys</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=NextEra_Energy&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="NextEra Energy (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background: none;">NextEra Energy</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/NiSource" title="NiSource" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">NiSource</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pepco" title="Pepco" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Pepco</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/PG%26E" title="PG&E" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">PG&E</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/PPL" title="PPL" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">PPL</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Progress_Energy" title="Progress Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Progress Energy</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Sempra_Energy" title="Sempra Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Sempra Energy</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wisconsin_Energy" title="Wisconsin Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Wisconsin Energy</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Xcel_Energy" title="Xcel Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Xcel Energy</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[13]</a></sup></p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="CEO_compensation">CEO compensation</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In May 2007, <i>Forbes</i> listed former Ameren CEO <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Gary_L.Rainwater" title="Gary L. Rainwater" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Gary L. Rainwater</a> as receiving $1.44 million in total compensation for the latest fiscal year, with a three-year total compensation of $5.7 million. In 2007 he ranked 39th on the list of CEOs in the Utilities industry, and 462nd among all CEOs in the United States.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[14]</a></sup> In 2008 he made $5 million in total compensation, and handed the CEO title to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Thomas_R.Voss&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Thomas R. Voss (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background: none;">Thomas R. Voss</a> on May 1, 2009.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-15" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[15]</a></sup></p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Power_portfolio">Power portfolio</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Out of its total 16,546 megawatts (MW) of electric generating capacity (1.55% of the U.S. total), <b>Ameren gets <font color="#ff0000">64.8% from coal,</font> 19.5% from natural gas, 7.5% from nuclear, 4.5% from hydroelectricity, and 3.7% from oil. </b>Ameren owns power plants in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri.<sup id="cite_ref-EIA_16-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-EIA-16" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[16]</a></sup></p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="FutureGen_2.0">FutureGen 2.0</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On August 5, 2010, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Obama_administration" title="Obama administration" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Obama administration</a> awarded $1 billion to "FutureGen 2.0," replacing the earlier plan for a <font color="#ff0000">"<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Clean_coal" title="Clean coal" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; background: none;">clean coal</a>" power plant in Illinois</font> that would have used a different technology. The money will retrofit a now-shuttered Ameren coal-fired power plant in the western Illinois town of Meredosia, and establish a pipeline network to transport and store more than one million tons of carbon-dioxide a year in Mattoon, Ill., the site of the original project. Supporters of the latest version say it will create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas pollution. Opponents contend the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Clean_coal" title="Clean coal" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">clean coal</a> technology is less developed and more expensive than cleaner <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Renewable_energy" title="Renewable energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">renewable energy</a>. The U.S. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Energy_Department" title="Energy Department" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Energy Department</a> said the money would go to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/FutureGen_Alliance" title="FutureGen Alliance" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">FutureGen Alliance</a>, the same group that backed the original "<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Clean_coal" title="Clean coal" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">clean coal</a>" project, along with Ameren, Babcock & Wilcox, and Air Liquide Process and Construction. <sup id="cite_ref-wsj_17-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-wsj-17" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[17]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On February 28, 2011, FutureGen Alliance announced Morgan County, Illinois, will house the $1.3 billion underground carbon dioxide storage facility for the coal gasification plant <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/FutureGen_2.0" title="FutureGen 2.0" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">FutureGen 2.0</a>. An estimated 32-miles of pipeline will also be constructed to pump the plant’s carbon dioxide emissions into the 4,500-foot deep underground site located north of Interstate 72 and west of County Highway 123. FutureGen Alliance claims the site could permanently store more than 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.<sup id="cite_ref-isn_18-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-isn-18" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[18]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On June 1, 2011, legislation needed for three multibillion-dollar <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_gasification" title="Coal gasification" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">coal gasification</a> projects to move forward in Illinois - <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/FutureGen_2.0" title="FutureGen 2.0" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">FutureGen 2.0</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Power_Holdings_Company_plant" title="Power Holdings Company plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Power Holdings Company plant</a> and a proposed $3-billion Chicago plant at an abandoned steel site along the Calumet River by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Leucadia" title="Leucadia" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Leucadia</a> - arrived at Governor Pat Quinn's desk after winning final approval in the General Assembly the night before. The FutureGen bill addresses the legal liability issue of storing CO2 underground in Morgan County as part of the $1.2 billion near-zero emissions project at <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren_Illinois" title="Ameren Illinois" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Ameren Illinois</a>' <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Meredosia_Power_Station" title="Meredosia Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Meredosia Power Station</a> also located in the county. Quinn must decide whether to sign or veto S.B. 2062, S.B. 1533 and S.B. 2169, relating to FutureGen 2.0, Leucadia and Power Holdings, respectively. Quinn has until late August 2011 to sign or veto the measures.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-19" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[19]</a></sup></p><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Ameren_opts_out">Ameren opts out</span></h3><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In November 2011, <strong class="selflink">Ameren</strong> told its FutureGen partners that, because of its financial situation, it cannot take part as promised in the CCS project.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> The company had agreed to supply an old oil-fired power plant in Meredosia, Illinois for the plant, set to be shut down by the end of the year. A spokesman for Ameren declined to comment on whether it would play any role in the project. The </span><i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">NY Times</i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> reported that if "the project needed a deadline extension from Congress to hold on to the $1 billion in federal aid... it is not clear that it could get one in this fiscally weak environment. And experts on coal-fired emissions say that without government help, it is unlikely that the private sector will risk the money necessary for a first-of-a-kind engineering project."</span><sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-20" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[20]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On November 15, 2011, Bloomberg said a number of recent reports suggested Ameren is looking to transfer the lead role in the project to the FutureGen Alliance, and that FutureGen is in talks to lease the shuttering Meredosia plant from Ameren.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-21" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[21]</a></sup></p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Nuclear_power">Nuclear power</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Although Ameren Missouri generates most of its power by coal-fired plants, abou<b>t 20 percent of its electrical power comes from the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant in Callaway County near Reform, MO.</b></p><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Callaway_2">Callaway 2</span></h3><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In April 2009, Ameren suspended efforts to build a proposed new nuclear power plant, the "Callaway 2," in Missouri. It was "the first of the 'nuclear renaissance' reactors to fall by the wayside," reported the <i>New York Times</i>. The move came after Ameren stopped efforts to change Missouri state law to allow "construction work in progress" (CWIP). CWIP allows utilities to charge customers to cover the cost of future electricity, and has been used to help fund expensive nuclear reactor projects. <sup id="cite_ref-Call2_22-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-Call2-22" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[22]</a></sup> The bill allowing companies to pass construction costs on to consumers during construction died in the Senate.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-23" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[23]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">However, a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Nuclear_Regulatory_Commission" title="Nuclear Regulatory Commission" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Nuclear Regulatory Commission</a> spokesperson "hinted that AmerenUE's application might not, in fact, be dead," as "AmerenUE had been in contact with the commission staff this week, and had not asked that the commission staff stop work on the application. That work is done at the expense of the applicant." <sup id="cite_ref-Call2_22-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-Call2-22" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[22]</a></sup></p><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="January_2011:Ameren_revives_Callaway_2">January 2011: Ameren revives Callaway 2</span></h3><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In January 2011, it was reported that rural electric cooperatives and city-owned power plants in Missouri are teaming up with Ameren Missouri to seek an early site permit for a second nuclear reactor at the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant. The electric companies say it is due to EPA regulations on coal plants - Ameren Missouri was cited early that month for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Clean_Air_Act" title="Clean Air Act" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Clean Air Act</a> violations at the utility’s <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rush_Island_Power_Station" title="Rush Island Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Rush Island Power Station</a>. Newly elected U.S. Sen. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Roy_Blunt" title="Roy Blunt" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Roy Blunt</a> is defending Ameren Missouri. Blunt sent a letter to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/EPA" title="EPA" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">EPA</a> Administrator <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Lisa_Jackson" title="Lisa Jackson" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Lisa Jackson</a> saying Ameren Missouri has been unjustly accused.<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-24" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[24]</a></sup></p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Existing_coal-fired_power_plants">Existing coal-fired power plants</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ameren had 31 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 10,719 MW of capacity. Their aging power stations, based on 2005 data, emitted 1.2% of all U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. Here is a list of Ameren's coal power plants with capacity over 100 MW:<sup id="cite_ref-EIA_16-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-EIA-16" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[16]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-25" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[25]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-26" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[26]</a></sup></p><table class="wikitable" style="font-size: 13px; margin: 1em 1em 1em 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><tbody><tr><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);">Plant Name</th><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);">State</th><th style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);">County</th><th width="175" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);">Year(s) Built</th><th width="75" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);">Capacity</th><th width="100" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);">2007 CO<sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub>Emissions</th><th width="100" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);">2006 SO<sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub>Emissions</th></tr><tr><th align="left" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Labadie_Power_Station" title="Labadie Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Labadie</a></th><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">MO</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Franklin</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1970, 1971, 1972, 1973</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">2389 MW</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">16,400,000 tons</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">51,445 tons</td></tr><tr><th align="left" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rush_Island_Power_Station" title="Rush Island Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Rush Island</a></th><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">MO</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Jefferson</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1976, 1977</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1242 MW</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">6,828,000 tons</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">28,674 tons</td></tr><tr><th align="left" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Newton_Power_Station" title="Newton Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Newton</a></th><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">IL</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Jasper</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1977, 1982</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1235 MW</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">7,799,000 tons</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">20,922 tons</td></tr><tr><th align="left" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Joppa_Steam_Plant" title="Joppa Steam Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Joppa</a></th><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">IL</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Massac</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1953, 1954, 1955</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1100 MW</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">9,222,000 tons</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">26,408 tons</td></tr><tr><th align="left" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Sioux_Power_Plant" title="Sioux Power Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Sioux</a></th><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">MO</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">St. Charles</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1967, 1968</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1099 MW</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">6,043,000 tons</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">44,148 tons</td></tr><tr><th align="left" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coffeen_Power_Station" title="Coffeen Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Coffeen</a></th><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">IL</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Montgomery</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1965, 1972</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1005 MW</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">6,699,000 tons</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">22,007 tons</td></tr><tr><th align="left" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Meramec_Power_Plant" title="Meramec Power Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Meramec</a></th><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">MO</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">St. Louis</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1953, 1954, 1959, 1961</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">923 MW</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">6,635,000 tons</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">17,225 tons</td></tr><tr><th align="left" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edwards_Generation_Plant" title="Edwards Generation Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">E.D. Edwards</a></th><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">IL</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Peoria</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1960, 1968, 1972</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">780 MW</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">4,696,000 tons</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">50,126 tons</td></tr><tr><th align="left" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Duck_Creek_Station" title="Duck Creek Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Duck Creek</a></th><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">IL</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Fulton</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1976</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">441 MW</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">2,545,000 tons</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">N/A</td></tr><tr><th align="left" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Meredosia_Power_Station" title="Meredosia Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Meredosia</a></th><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">IL</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Morgan</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1948, 1949, 1960</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">354 MW</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1,809,000 tons</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">N/A</td></tr><tr><th align="left" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Hutsonville_Power_Station" title="Hutsonville Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Hutsonville</a></th><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">IL</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Crawford</td><td align="center" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">1953, 1954</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">150 MW</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">897,000 tons</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">N/A</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 2005, Ameren's 11 largest coal-fired power plants emitted 69.6 million tons of CO<sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub> (1.2% of <i>all</i> U.S. CO<sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub> emissions) and at least 261,000 tons of SO<sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub> (1.7% of <i>all</i> U.S. SO<sub style="line-height: 1em;">2</sub> emissions).</p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Proposed_coal_unit_closures">Proposed coal unit closures</span></h2><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Meramec_plant_may_close_between_2015_and_2020">Meramec plant may close between 2015 and 2020</span></h3><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In Feb. 2011, Ameren filed its integrated resource plan, outlining the company's strategy for meeting energy demand for the next 20 years, and said the updated <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_regulations" title="Coal regulations" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">coal regulations</a> for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Air_pollution" title="Air pollution" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">air pollution</a>, water use and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_waste" title="Coal waste" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">coal waste</a> disposal would probably prompt the company to close its 58-year-old <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Meramec_Power_Plant" title="Meramec Power Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Meramec Power Plant</a> in St. Louis, Missouri, sometime between 2015 and 2020. The company is looking at a nuclear- or natural gas plant to make up for the plant, rather than improvements in <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Energy_efficiency" title="Energy efficiency" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">energy efficiency</a>. Although the company found in the report that efficiency is cheaper, they said the company cannot collect the revenue from efficiency measures quickly enough to please its shareholders.<sup id="cite_ref-jt_27-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-jt-27" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[27]</a></sup></p><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Meredosia_and_Hutsonville_may_close_by_2012">Meredosia and Hutsonville may close by 2012</span></h3><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In October 2011, <strong class="selflink">Ameren</strong> announced it will likely shutter its <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Meredosia_Power_Station" title="Meredosia Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Meredosia Power Station</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Hutsonville_Power_Station" title="Hutsonville Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Hutsonville Power Station</a> by the end of the year, saying the price of complying with impending U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules - particularly the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Transport_Rule" title="Transport Rule" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Transport Rule</a> - was too costly. The plants provided about 4 percent of Ameren's total generation over the last two years.</p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Meredosia Energy Center is also the proposed site for <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/FutureGen_2.0" title="FutureGen 2.0" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">FutureGen 2.0</a>, and Ameren said shuttering the plant will not impact the FutureGen project. More than half of the project's $1.3 billion budget — $730 million — will go to retrofit one of plant's generating units. The rest of the budget is set aside for construction of a carbon dioxide pipeline and underground storage.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-28" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[28]</a></sup></p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Death_and_disease_attributable_to_fine_particle_pollution_from_Ameren_coal_plants">Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Ameren coal plants</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Particulates_and_coal" title="Particulates and coal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">fine particle pollution</a> from coal-fired power plants.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-29" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[29]</a></sup> Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Soot" title="Soot" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">soot</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Heavy_metals_and_coal" title="Heavy metals and coal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">heavy metals</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Sulfur_dioxide_and_coal" title="Sulfur dioxide and coal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">sulfur dioxide</a>, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Nitrogen_oxide" title="Nitrogen oxide" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">nitrogen oxides</a>. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/External_costs_of_coal" title="External costs of coal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">external costs</a>, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_plants_near_residential_areas" title="Coal plants near residential areas" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Low-income and minority populations</a> are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-30" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[30]</a></sup></p><h4 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Table_1:Death_and_disease_attributable_to_fine_particle_pollution_from_Ameren_coal_plants">Table 1:<font color="#ff0000"> Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Ameren coal plants</font></span></h4><table class="wikitable" style="font-size: 13px; margin: 1em 1em 1em 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><tbody><tr><th width="120" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);">Type of Impact</th><th width="120" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);">Annual Incidence</th><th width="120" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em; text-align: center; background: rgb(242, 242, 242);">Valuation</th></tr><tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Deaths</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">407</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">$3.0 billion</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Heart attacks</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">628</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">$68.7 million</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Asthma attacks</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">6,896</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">$0.36 million</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Chronic bronchitis</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">250</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">$111.0 million</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Asthma ER visits</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">440</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">$0.16 million</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">Hospital admissions</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">294</td><td align="right" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0.2em;">$6.8 million</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Source: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.catf.us/coal/problems/power_plants/existing/Health_Impacts-annual-of_Existing_Plants.xls" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">"Health Impacts - annual - of Existing Plants,"</a> Clean Air Task Force Excel worksheet, available under "Data Annex" at <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.catf.us/coal/problems/power_plants/existing/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">"Death and Disease from Power Plants,"</a> Clean Air Task Force. Note: This data includes the following plants owned by Ameren and affiliates AmerenEU and Central Illinois Light Co.: <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coffeen_Power_Station" title="Coffeen Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Coffeen</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Meredosia_Power_Station" title="Meredosia Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Meredosia</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Newton_Power_Station" title="Newton Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Newton</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Labadie_Power_Station" title="Labadie Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Labadie</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Meramec_Power_Plant" title="Meramec Power Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Meramec</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Sioux_Power_Plant" title="Sioux Power Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Sioux</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rush_Island_Power_Station" title="Rush Island Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Rush Island</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edwards_Generation_Plant" title="Edwards Generation Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">E.D. Edwards</a>, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Duck_Creek_Station" title="Duck Creek Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Duck Creek</a>.</p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Coal_waste">Coal waste</span></h2><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Labadie_Station_ranked_22nd_on_list_of_most_polluting_power_plants_in_terms_of_coal_waste">Labadie Station ranked 22nd on list of most polluting power plants in terms of coal waste</span></h3><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In January 2009, Sue Sturgis of the Institute of Southern Studies compiled a list of the 100 most polluting coal plants in the United States in terms of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_waste" title="Coal waste" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">coal combustion waste</a> (CCW) stored in surface impoundments like the one involved in the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/TVA_Kingston_Fossil_Plant_coal_ash_spill" title="TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-iss_31-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-iss-31" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[31]</a></sup> The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-32" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[32]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Labadie_Power_Station" title="Labadie Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Labadie Power Station</a> ranked number 22 on the list, with 1,740,882 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.<sup id="cite_ref-iss_31-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-iss-31" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[31]</a></sup></p><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Leak_at_coal_waste_site_for_Labadie_Station">Leak at coal waste site for Labadie Station</span></h3><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Since 1992, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Labadie_Power_Station_Bottom_Ash_Pond" title="Labadie Power Station Bottom Ash Pond" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Labadie Power Station Bottom Ash Pond</a> has been 'seeping' <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_waste" title="Coal waste" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">coal waste</a> - up to 35 gallons a minute for two decades. Ameren said there's no evidence the leaks have fouled the groundwater or the drinking water of nearby homes, but critics say that's because neither the state nor the company has ever tested the area for contamination. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the agency charged with regulating coal ash ponds and enforcing the Clean Water Act in the state, isn't required to monitor groundwater at the site under current state laws. But it has legal authority to do so under the plant's water permit and hasn't — despite learning of the leaks from Ameren 19 years ago, according to utility filings with the DNR.</p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ameren uses water to wash the coal waste to unlined ponds west of the plant. There, the waste sinks to the bottom, and the water drains through a permitted outfall into Labadie Creek and the Missouri River. One pond constructed in 1993, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Labadie_Power_Station_Fly_Ash_Pond" title="Labadie Power Station Fly Ash Pond" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Labadie Power Station Fly Ash Pond</a>, has a protective liner. The leaking 154-acre <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Labadie_Power_Station_Bottom_Ash_Pond" title="Labadie Power Station Bottom Ash Pond" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Labadie Power Station Bottom Ash Pond</a>, which began receiving coal ash when Labadie began operation in 1970, actually has two leaks, according to information provided by Ameren to the DNR. The smaller one, flowing at a rate of up to 5 gallons a minute, is near the wastewater outfall and leaks into the creek. The other leak releases up to 30 gallons a minute on the south side of the pond. Combined, that's the equivalent of more than 50,000 gallons of water escaping the ponds each day, or nearly 350 million gallons over 19 years.</p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The water discharge permit for the plant expired 12 years ago. Ameren applied for a permit renewal in 1998, but the department has yet to finish its review. Under state law, the plant can legally continue operating under the existing 1994 permit. DNR officials have declined to be interviewed about the leaking ash ponds. Spokeswoman Renee Bungart said the agency has asked Ameren to resubmit its water permit application, but provided no timeline.</p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Members of the Labadie Environmental Organization said they are concerned because the leaking waste site sits in alluvial soil — a fine mix of silt, sand and clay that's an easy pathway for contamination to migrate via water.<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-33" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[33]</a></sup></p><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Citizens_oppose_new_coal_ash_site_for_Labadie_plant">Citizens oppose new coal ash site for Labadie plant</span></h3><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In June 2010, environmental groups voiced opposition to a plan from Ameren to build a 400-acre coal ash landfill for the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Labadie_Power_Station" title="Labadie Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Labadie Power Station</a> near the Missouri River, about 35 miles west of St. Louis. The group is trying to prevent the county from changing its zoning regulations. The environmentalists say the changes would make it too easy for Ameren to put a landfill in an area not zoned for waste disposal. Patricia Schuba with the Labadie Environmental Organization says coal ash contaminants could leach into groundwater and the Missouri River: "Fifty percent of Missourians drink from Missouri River water. So this is an issue that has been painted as very local, but it's truly a metro St. Louis issue." Ameren officials say the landfill would be lined to prevent groundwater contamination and surrounded by a berm to keep out flood water.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-34" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[34]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On December 14, 2010, in the first hearing on the new waste site, environmentalists and residents urged the Franklin County Commission to hold off on a proposed change in the zoning code that would pave the way for Ameren Missouri to build the new <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_ash" title="Coal ash" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">coal ash</a> landfill near the Labadie plant. The group said the commission should wait to act until the Environmental Protection Agency announces its long-planned <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_waste" title="Coal waste" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">coal waste</a> regulations. The group also called for an advisory committee on the issue, reflecting environmentalists' longtime concerns that Ameren's proposed landfill could leak in the event of a disaster, causing <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Heavy_metals" title="Heavy metals" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">heavy metals</a> from ash to enter the St. Louis area's drinking water and pose serious health risks.<sup id="cite_ref-pk_35-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-pk-35" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[35]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">If the commission approves the zoning change, Ameren would still need a variety of government permits to build its landfill. Construction likely would not occur for another two years. Ameren captures about 99 percent of the ash that its coal-fired power plants would otherwise emit. About half the waste is recycled, according to the utility, but the rest must be disposed. Ameren proposed the landfill because its existing coal-ash ponds are reaching capacity. The landfill's proposed location is in a flood plain. Environmentalists and their experts said a landfill in a flood plain has an especially high risk of leaking toxic heavy metals such as <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Arsenic" title="Arsenic" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">arsenic</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Selenium" title="Selenium" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">selenium</a> into groundwater in the event of a flood or earthquake. They're concerned that the toxins could make their way down the Missouri River, which supplies drinking water across the St. Louis region.<sup id="cite_ref-pk_35-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-pk-35" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[35]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Even if the commission amends its landfill code to allow Ameren's landfill to go forward, environmentalists said they don't want a landfill that falls below EPA's eventual standards. If Ameren gets approval on the landfill before EPA enacts its regulations, then the landfill would be grandfathered under existing standards.<sup id="cite_ref-pk_35-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-pk-35" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[35]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On October 25, 2011, the Franklin County Commission voted 2-1 in favor of adopting land use amendments which removes a major hurdle for a coal ash landfill in the Labadie area. Immediately following the commission's vote, many of the 100 community members in the audience began shouting "shame" at the commissioners.<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-36" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[36]</a></sup></p><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Shareholder_resolution_for_Ameren_to_disclose_coal_waste_practices_narrowly_defeated"><font color="#ff0000">Shareholder resolution</font> for Ameren to disclose coal waste practices narrowly defeated</span></h3><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On April 21, 2011, the Midwest Coalition for Responsible Investment voted on a shareholder proposal that would have required <strong class="selflink">Ameren</strong> to provide detailed information about <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_waste" title="Coal waste" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">coal waste</a> management and how those efforts may reduce risks to company finances and operations. The proposal got 46 percent of the votes cast — short of the majority needed to pass. The subject of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_ash" title="Coal ash" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">coal ash</a> disposal has taken on significance because of plans by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren_Missouri" title="Ameren Missouri" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Ameren Missouri</a> to build a new coal ash landfill in the Missouri River floodplain next to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Labadie_Power_Station" title="Labadie Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Labadie Power Station</a>, spurring contentious zoning hearings in Franklin County, Illinois. In response to the shareholder vote, Ameren Chief Executive Thomas R. Voss said that he recognized there is interest in the issue and that the company will release 'substantial" information on its coal waste practices by the end of 2011 as part of a broader report on social responsibility; Ameren, however, had advised shareholders to vote against the resolution, saying such a report was "not necessary, prudent or cost effective." The company didn't specify what information it would provide as part of the corporate responsibility report, or whether it would address issues raised in the resolution. Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy advisory firm, has also recommended that shareholders support resolutions involving corporate sustainability. <sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-37" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[37]</a></sup></p><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Ameren_coal_ash_contaminants_exceed_state_health_levels">Ameren coal ash contaminants exceed state health levels</span></h3><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A 2011 report by Prairie Rivers and the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://prairierivers.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Illinois-at-Risk.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAATklEQVR4XmXKQQqAMAwF0X/7XsSz9CSKiyIIFRFcjMmihmiGbB5fqDCaQJ4j46pzYLUWe+cXZ6OVBhTS0srY2Njp/+XxXXZOLu6EUWAOPX1vnwTBe6qQAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">"Illinois at Risk: Lax safeguards and no enforcement endanger the water, air & lives of residents near coal ash dumps"</a> found that Illinois has the second highest number of contaminated coal ash dump sites in the United States. The report evaluates data from groundwater sampling conducted by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) at coal ash disposal sites in 2010. IEPA found exceedances of health standards for coal ash contaminants in groundwater at all 22 sites evaluated. Prairie Rivers and IEP said two-thirds of the impoundments don't have groundwater monitoring and don't have liners, which keep contaminants from leaching out of the impoundments. And dams holding the impoundments at most of the 83 sites have no permits and have not been inspected for safety or stability by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.<sup id="cite_ref-tb_38-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-tb-38" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[38]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The report focuses on the specific problems at 10 of the 22 coal waste sites: the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Vermilion_Power_Station" title="Vermilion Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Vermilion Power Station</a>, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Joliet_9_Generating_Station" title="Joliet 9 Generating Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Joliet 9 Generating Station</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Joliet_29_Generating_Station" title="Joliet 29 Generating Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Joliet 29 Generating Station</a>, the now retired <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren_Energy" title="Ameren Energy" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Ameren Energy</a> Venice Power Station in Madison and St. Clair counties, coal ash generated by the Bunge dry corn mill in Vermilion County, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Hutsonville_Power_Station" title="Hutsonville Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Hutsonville Power Station</a>, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Crown_3_Mine" title="Crown 3 Mine" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Crown 3 Mine</a>, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Industry_Mine" title="Industry Mine" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Industry Mine</a>, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Gateway_Mine" title="Gateway Mine" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Gateway Mine</a>, and the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_mine_reclamation" title="Coal mine reclamation" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">coal mine reclamation</a> Murdock site by Alpena Vision Resources in Douglas County.<sup id="cite_ref-tb_38-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-tb-38" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[38]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Prairie Rivers and the EIP said the U.S. EPA should implement comprehensive coal ash regulations that would regulate coal ash as a special waste with federal standards that all states would have to follow, like requiring liners at disposal sites, covers, monitoring, cleanup standards and the phase out of ash ponds. According to the IEPA's ash impoundment strategy progress report in February 2010, the agency now requires new ash ponds to have liners, and the agency supports the U.S. EPA's initiative for stricter controls on coal ash.<sup id="cite_ref-tm_39-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-tm-39" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[39]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The 2011 report, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/StateofFailure.pdf" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAAAnOwc2AAAATklEQVR4XmXKQQqAMAwF0X/7XsSz9CSKiyIIFRFcjMmihmiGbB5fqDCaQJ4j46pzYLUWe+cXZ6OVBhTS0srY2Njp/+XxXXZOLu6EUWAOPX1vnwTBe6qQAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">"State of Failure: How
States
Fail
to
Protect
Our
Health
and
Drinking
Water
from
Toxic
Coal
Ash"</a> by Earthjustice and Appalachian Mountain Advocates, looked at EPA data and found that state regulations are often inadequate for protecting public health. The report noted that Illinois ranked first in the number of coal ash ponds with 83, yet only about a third of the ponds are lined or monitored.</p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Ameren_to_lower_mercury_and_other_coal_plant_emissions">Ameren to lower mercury and other coal plant emissions</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In August 2006, a proposed regulatory agreement announced between state environmental officials and Ameren Corp.'s power-generating subsidiaries would reduce levels of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mercury" title="Mercury" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">mercury</a> and other pollutants released at Ameren's coal-burning plants downstate. It wasn't clear whether Ameren's large customer base ultimately would pay the tab for the necessary technology, estimated to cost more than $1.5 billion. The St. Louis-based utility may end up buying electricity from outside sources when a controversial power auction is held in September in Illinois. Under a proposal before the Illinois Pollution Control Board, most Ameren-affiliated power plants would install equipment to reduce releases of poisonous mercury by 90 percent by 2009 - a tougher target than the 70 percent suggested by the federal government over a longer period. There would be a slower phase-in at a few plants, but the Ameren affiliates also would "dramatically" cut emissions of sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides beyond federal requirements, Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office said in a news release. Also, the power-makers would agree not to skirt the new standards by buying emission credits from other producers. Ameren operating companies - AmerenCILCO, AmerenCIPS and AmerenIP - provide electricity to much of central Illinois. Its separate power-generating subsidiaries would install new equipment at the Coffeen, Duck Creek, Edwards, Hutsonville, Meredosia and Newton power stations, the utility said in a news release. The company suggested the cost of its capital expenses could reach $2 billion.<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-40" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[40]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In January 2010, Ameren spent $1 billion installing flue gas desulfurization systems, or <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scrubbers" title="Scrubbers" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">scrubbers</a>, on its 438-megawatt <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Duck_Creek_Station" title="Duck Creek Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Duck Creek Station</a> near the city of Canton. Scrubbers were also built in Unit 1 of its 900-MW <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coffeen_Power_Station" title="Coffeen Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Coffeen Power Station</a> in Montgomery County. Ameren also installed an electrostatic precipitator at the Duck Creek plant, to capture <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Particulates" title="Particulates" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">particulates</a>,and placed activated carbon injection systems at the following sites: the 794-MW E.D. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Edwards_Generation_Plant" title="Edwards Generation Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Edwards Generation Plant</a> in Bartonville, the 513-MW <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Meredosia_Power_Station" title="Meredosia Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Meredosia Power Station</a> near Jacksonville, the 1,151-MW <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Newton_Power_Station" title="Newton Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Newton Power Station</a> in Jasper County and the 164-MW <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Joppa_Steam_Plant" title="Joppa Steam Plant" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Joppa Steam Plant</a>, an <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Electric_Energy,Inc." title="Electric Energy, Inc." style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Electric Energy, Inc.</a> power plant where Ameren holds an 80 percent stake. Carbon injection systems enable powdered activated carbon to absorb oxidized <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mercury" title="Mercury" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">mercury</a> from the flue gas. Mercury is then collected with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Fly_ash" title="Fly ash" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">fly ash</a> in the plant’s particulate collection device, and stored as <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Coal_waste" title="Coal waste" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">coal waste</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-41" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[41]</a></sup></p><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="2010:Labadie_Station_ranked_4th_in_mercury_emissions">2010: Labadie Station ranked 4th in mercury emissions</span></h3><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news_reports/news_03_17_10.php" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">2010 report</a> by the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Environmental_Integrity_Project" title="Environmental Integrity Project" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Environmental Integrity Project</a> using <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/EPA" title="EPA" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">EPA</a> data found that Ameren's <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Labadie_Power_Station" title="Labadie Power Station" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Labadie Power Station</a> is the 4th worst <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mercury_and_coal" title="Mercury and coal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">mercury</a> polluter in the United States, emitting 1,442 pounds of mercury in 2008, the most recent year for data.<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-42" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[42]</a></sup></p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Ameren_Missouri_cuts_back_on_energy_efficiency">Ameren Missouri cuts back on energy efficiency</span></h2><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In Feb. 2011, Ameren Missouri said energy efficiency hurts Ameren's bottom line, at up to $30 million annually, and that the company plans to cut its budget for energy efficiency investment from $25 to $20 million over a year, or a third of what sister utility Ameren Illinois plans to spend.<sup id="cite_ref-jt_27-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-jt-27" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[27]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ameren currently subsidizes compact fluorescent light bulbs, pays rebates for replacing older appliances with Energy Star models, and finances marketing programs to raise awareness about energy efficiency, among other efforts. The Missouri Legislature in 2009 passed Senate Bill 376, the Missouri Energy Efficiency Investment Act. The law directs investor-owned electric utilities to pursue all cost-effective energy efficiency programs. It also authorizes regulators to award them profits for such investments that equal those for building power plants.<sup id="cite_ref-jt_27-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-jt-27" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[27]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In Feb. 2011, Ameren filed its integrated resource plan, outlining the company's strategy for meeting energy demand for the next 20 years, and said the new rules for air pollution, water use and coal waste disposal would probably prompt it to close its 58-year-old Meramec coal plant sometime between 2015 and 2020. The company is looking at a nuclear- or natural gas plant to make up for the plant, rather than improvements in energy efficiency. According to the plan, it costs about 4 cents to save a kilowatt-hour of energy — far less than the 10 cents per kilowatt-hour to build and operate a new nuclear plant, or 12 cents for a natural gas-fired plant. But Ameren said SB 376 does not allow the company to recover costs quickly enough: "Shareholders foot the bill for potentially several years before we see any cost recover." The utility wants authority to charge customers up front for energy efficiency investments that will reduce electricity sales, not wait to collect the money through a rate case after it is spent.<sup id="cite_ref-jt_27-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-jt-27" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[27]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A plan commissioned by the utility and published in 2010 indicated that energy efficiency alone could reduce consumption by 7.3 percent by 2030. But such a target would require about $100 million in annual investments.<sup id="cite_ref-jt_27-4" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-jt-27" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[27]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.4em 0px 0.5em; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In August 2011 <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Peabody_Energy" title="Peabody Energy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Peabody Energy</a> announced that they had signed a six-year deal with Ameren Missouri to supply 91 million tons of low sulfur coal from its Power River Basin mines for use in "multiple electricity generating plants in Missouri" through to 2017.<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference" style="line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ameren#cite_note-43" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); white-space: nowrap; background: none;">[43]</a></sup></p><h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-size: 19px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Articles_and_resources">Articles and resources</span></h2><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="Related_SourceWatch_articles">Related SourceWatch articles</span></h3><ul style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANAQMAAABb8jbLAAAABlBMVEX///8AUow5QSOjAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAABNJREFUCB1jYEABBQw/wLCAgQEAGpIDyT0IVcsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Gary_L.Rainwater" title="Gary L. Rainwater" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Gary L. Rainwater</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Douglas_R.Oberhelman" title="Douglas R. Oberhelman" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Douglas R. Oberhelman</a> - former board member</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Illinois_and_coal" title="Illinois and coal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Illinois and coal</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Missouri_and_coal" title="Missouri and coal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Missouri and coal</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/United_States_and_coal" title="United States and coal" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">United States and coal</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Global_warming" title="Global warming" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Global warming</a></li></ul><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="External_resources">External resources</span></h3><ul style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANAQMAAABb8jbLAAAABlBMVEX///8AUow5QSOjAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAABNJREFUCB1jYEABBQw/wLCAgQEAGpIDyT0IVcsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.priceofoil.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">Oil Change International</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.oilchangeusa.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">Oil Change USA</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.appalachianvoices.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">Appalachian Voices</a></li></ul><h3 style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" id="External_articles">External articles</span></h3><ul style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAANAQMAAABb8jbLAAAABlBMVEX///8AUow5QSOjAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAABNJREFUCB1jYEABBQw/wLCAgQEAGpIDyT0IVcsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=); font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">"<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bnd.com/breaking_news/story/708242.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC) 100% 50% no-repeat;">Judge overrules request by Ameren to stop TV ads</a>," Associated Press, March 29, 2009.</li></ul><p>
<strong>Ameren</strong>, based in Collinsville, Illinois, spent $7.5 million. It has hired four other firms to help in its lobbying efforts, including the Gephardt Group Government Affairs, led by former House Majority Leader <a title="Representative Richard Gephardt — Gephardt Group Government Affairs" href="http://firststreetresearch.cqpress.com/first-street-30/first-street-30-ex-members-of-congress/representative-richard-gephardt-gephardt-group-government-affairs/">Richard Gephardt</a>, a member of the <a title="First Street 30" href="http://firststreetresearch.cqpress.com/first-street-30/">First Street 30</a>. The firm has a PAC that has donated more than $270,000 this election cycle to candidates that members of the Missouri and Illinois delegations.</p>
<p>
===</p>
<h1 class="entry-title"><font size="4">Inhofe’s Resolution Focuses the Clean Air and Water Lobby</font></h1>
<div class="post-info"><span class="date published time" title="2012-06-20T10:06:14+00:00">June 20, 2012</span> By <span class="author vcard"><span class="fn"><a href="http://firststreetresearch.cqpress.com/author/clyons28/" class="fn n" title="Christina Lyons" rel="author">Christina Lyons</a></span></span> <span class="post-comments"><a href="http://firststreetresearch.cqpress.com/2012/06/20/inohofes-resolution-focuses-the-clean-air-and-water-lobby/#comments">Leave a Comment</a></span></div>
<div class="entry-content">
<p>Lobbyists on either side of the issue of controlling air toxins are picking up force as the Senate nears a vote — expected Tuesday — on a controversial GOP plan to block Environmental Protection Agency rules, finalized last December, that require cuts in mercury and other air pollutants from power plants.
<strong>Update</strong>: The resolution was <a href="http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=2&vote=00139" target="_blank">voted down 46-53</a>.
The White House has threatened to veto the plan — sponsored by Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee — that environmental groups oppose and some utilities and energy lobbying coalitions strongly support (<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/06/19/fighting-protect-american-families-mercury-pollution">http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/06/19/fighting-protect-american-families-mercury-pollution</a>).
<em>First Street</em> data shows that 516 firms on behalf of 804 clients have lobbied on clean air and water regulations or legislation in the current session of Congress. Those firms and clients include — among others — small and large power companies, agricultural organizations, manufacturers, universities, as well as environmental lobbying groups like the World Wildlife Fund Inc. and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
But in a report released Monday called, “The Price of Pollution Politics,” the NRDC has targeted eight specific power companies that it says have spent a combined $67 million on lobbying Congress between 2010 and the first quarter of 2012. The report details the lobbying expenses of each company and estimates the health effects and costs of the companies’ activities (<a href="http://www.nrdc.org/air/price-of-pollution-politics.asp">http://www.nrdc.org/air/price-of-pollution-politics.asp</a>). The NRDC timed its report to directly precede the scheduled vote on Inhofe’s proposed Senate Joint Resolution 37, which would block the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (<a href="http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/utility/utilitypg.html">http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/utility/utilitypg.html</a>).
John Walke, NRDC’s clean air director, said during a conference call on Monday that the EPA had provided a timeline for compliance in the MATS rule which would “require rational planning by businessmen and businesswomen … but it appears these companies .. have decided it is in their interest to attack these public safeguards in Congress and in the courts.”
The “gang of eight,” as the NRDC referred to the companies in its report, “are putting profits above protecting kids,” said Pete Altman, climate and clean air campaign director for the NRDC. “We want to see these companies focus their money on cleaning up pollution rather than blocking, weakening and delaying” EPA regulations.
The following are the firms targeted in the NRDC report, the amount of lobbying expenditures the coalition estimated each firm spent from 2010 through the first quarter of 2012, and some facts about each firm’s connections and political activity based on <em>First Street</em> data:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>American Electric Power </strong>(AEP), based in Columbus, Ohio, spent $22 million on lobbying. In the first quarter of this year, it reported hiring five other firms to help it with its lobbying efforts. Its political action committee so far this election cycle has distributed more than $924,000 to candidates, including Inhofe, House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland; Republicans Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, Jo Barton of Texas, and Fred Upton of Michigan, all members of the Energy and Commerce Committee. It also has donated to several other PACs, including the Nuclear Energy Institute Federal PAC and the Powerpac of the Edison Electric Institute.</li>
<li><strong>Southern Company,</strong>based in Atlanta, Ga, spent $18 million on lobbying. Among its lobbyists are:
<ul>
<li>Stoney G. Burke, who worked for two years as a legislative assistant to former Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Tex., who served on the Appropriations Committee;</li>
<li>H. Adam Lawrence, who served in the 1990s as a legislative assistant and counsel to Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana, a member of the committees on Commerce and Finance;</li>
<li>Larry D. Nix, a former legislative aide to Sen. Jeff Session, R-Ala., a longtime member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works;</li>
<li>Michael J. Riith, a former legislative director and district coordinator for Rep. Steven C. LaTourette, R-Ohio, a former member of the committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and Financial Services but who now serves on Appropriations; and</li>
<li>Jeanne H. Wolak, a former legislative assistant and director for former Rep. James L. Chapman, D-Texas.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p style=" padding-left: 30px;">Southern Company during the past year also hired 16 other firms to help with its efforts, and it is affiliated with several PACs, including the Alabama Power Co. Employees Federal PAC and Georgia Power Company Federal PAC.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Ameren</strong>, based in Collinsville, Illinois, spent $7.5 million. It has hired four other firms to help in its lobbying efforts, including the Gephardt Group Government Affairs, led by former House Majority Leader <a title="Representative Richard Gephardt — Gephardt Group Government Affairs" href="http://firststreetresearch.cqpress.com/first-street-30/first-street-30-ex-members-of-congress/representative-richard-gephardt-gephardt-group-government-affairs/">Richard Gephardt</a>, a member of the <a title="First Street 30" href="http://firststreetresearch.cqpress.com/first-street-30/">First Street 30</a>. The firm has a PAC that has donated more than $270,000 this election cycle to candidates that members of the Missouri and Illinois delegations.</li>
<li><strong>FirstEnergy Corp.</strong>, based in Akron Ohio, spent $5.7 million lobbying, including $1.24 million in the first quarter of this year. Among its lobbyists are Martin Hall, former chief of staff for the Council on Environmental Quality and former staffer and deputy staff director for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. FirstEnergy also has hired five other firms to help in its lobbying efforts and has a PAC that has distributed nearly $1.2 million this election cycle to a range of members, including House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio; Whitfield, who has been a vigorous defender of coal interests from his seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee; Democratic Reps. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania and Bob Latta of Ohio, also members of Energy and Commerce; Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, member of the Natural Resources Committee; and Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia, ranking Democrat on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.</li>
<li><strong>DTE Energy</strong>, headquartered in Detroit, spent $3.6 million, including more than half a million dollars in the first quarter of this year. It also has hired two other lobbying firms — Bracy Tucker Brown & Valanzano and Bracewell and Giuliani, and has a PAC that has distributed $486,000 so far this election cycle, including to Upton, Michigan Republican Tim Walberg, and Michigan Democrat John D. Dingell, longtime member and former chairman of Energy and Commerce.</li>
<li><strong>Energy Future Holdings</strong> spent $7 million. While the company has its own lobbying force, it also has hired 13 other firms to help further its causes. Lobbyists reported for Energy Future include Joel Kaplan, an executive vice president who left earlier this year to go to Facebook to head that company’s Washington office. Kaplan worked in the George W. Bush White House from 2006 to 2008 as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for policy, from 2004 to 2005 as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget.</li>
<li><strong>GenOn Energy Inc,</strong> based in Houston, spent $1 million on lobbying. It has hired three other firms in the past year and has a PAC that has distributed more than $200,000 so far this election cycle and has nearly $230,000 cash on hand. Beneficiaries of its contributions also include several members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, including Chairman Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico.</li>
<li><strong>PPL</strong>, based in Allentown, Pa., spent $1. 9 million on lobbying. According to FirstStreet data, it spent $610,000 just in the first quarter of 2012, a big jump from the last three quarters of 2011 when it spent about $250,000 each quarter. It has hired just two other firms, and has a PAC that has distributed more than $480,000 so far this election cycle to a long list of members of the House and Senate, primarily those on the energy and environment panels, including Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., and Whitfield, as well as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.</li>
</ul>
<p>These companies, except for GenOn, are members of various larger lobbying organizations, including the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) and the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council (ERCC). Those groups themselves have spent a bundle on lobbying as well:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>ACCCE</strong> spent more than $6.7 million between 2010 and the first quarter of 2012 lobbying Congress, including $380,000 in the first quarter of 2012 when it also paid Podesta Group Inc. another $90,000 in lobbying fees. Among ACCCE’s lobbyists are Patrick Cavanagh, a former legislative director for Pennsylvania Democrat Mike Doyle. The council also paid $90,000 in lobbying fees that quarter to the Podesta Group Inc., where two of the top <a title="First Street 30" href="http://firststreetresearch.cqpress.com/first-street-30/">First Street 30</a> lobbyists — former Hill staffer <a title="Randall Gerard — Podesta Group, Inc." href="http://firststreetresearch.cqpress.com/first-street-30/first-street-30-ex-congressional-staffers/randall-gerard-podesta-group-inc/">Randall Gerard</a> and <a title="Anthony Podesta — Podesta Group, Inc." href="http://firststreetresearch.cqpress.com/first-street-30/first-street-30-professional-lobbyists/anthony-podesta-podesta-group-inc/">Anthony Podesta</a> work.</li>
</ul>
<p><span class="st">ARS <em>Eastern Regional Research Center</em> in Wyndmoor, Pa.</span></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>ERRC</strong> spent about $3 million between 2010 and the first quarter of 2012, including $340,000 in the first quarter of 2012. It focuses on Clean Air and Water Quality standards and Superfund issues. It hired Bracewell and Giuliani, LLP and Hunton and Williams.</li>
</ul>
<p>The oil and gas industry has been the top contributor to Inhofe’s reelection campaign since 2007. Top individual contributors include: Koch Industries, Murray Energy and Devon Energy.
Senate Environment chair Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., meanwhile, has stood behind the EPA standards. And the NRDC has been joined by other environmental organizations, such as the National Wildlife Federation and the Environmental Defense Fund, that have been writing its members, testifying before Congress, blogging and tweeting to battle Inhofe’s proposal.</p>
</div>
<p> </p>