Bow and Concord, NH - Environmental activists representing Extinction Rebellion, No Coal No Gas, and 350NH launched cascades of fireworks near Merrimack Generating Station this evening to draw attention to the immorality of burning coal in the escalating climate crisis. In a coordinated action, images of fireworks and flares coupled with messages about the role of coal in climate change were projected onto buildings in downtown Concord to highlight the issue to residents of New Hampshire's capital.

"I am desperate," said participant Sue Durling, a grandmother from Hillsborough. "We are experiencing a climate crisis. No one seems to be listening, and our government and media are not acting like the science is real. We are sending up flares because that's what people do to attract attention in an emergency."

Activists directed chants in the direction of the power plant and expressed their willingness to risk jail time during the holiday season. "I believe the best gift I could give to my family and the planet would be to wake up the public to the catastrophe that is already beginning to change our world," said Karen Bixler of Bethel, Vermont. Lumps of coal were left as a gift to the power plant, addressed to “our naughty neighbors at Merrimack Generating Station”.

Meanwhile, carolers serenaded shoppers on Main Street in Concord on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Traditional holiday tunes were updated with climate conscious lyrics, transforming them to call attention to the urgency. The public were encouraged to sing along with projected karaoke videos that were interspersed with environmental messages.

The Merrimack Generating Station in Bow, NH, is the last coal-fired power plant in New England that isn't yet scheduled to be shut down.[1] The station is considered a "peaker plant" because it currently operates only during peak electrical demand, but coal is the least efficient and most harmful method for this purpose.[2] [3] [4] When operating at full capacity, the plant emits as much carbon dioxide in one hour as it takes the average American to expend in 26 years.[5] The recent addition of expensive "scrubbing" technology, aimed at reducing carbon emissions from the plant, resulted in a barely noticeable decrease.

The Merrimack plant has exacted a heavy financial toll on the local, state, and regional population. Over $188 million was earmarked for subsidies to Granite Shore Power to keep the Merrimack station open between 2018 and 2023. The recent addition of the failed carbon scrubbers cost $500 million; a cost passed on to ratepayers across New England. Additionally, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire recently ordered the taxpayers of Bow to reimburse the plant owners $10 million due to property tax evaluation errors. These financial burdens contribute to the average New Hampshire utility bill being one of the highest in the nation.[6] Without these subsidies our bills would be 10-20% lower.[7]  

Meanwhile, the health risks of breathing polluted air and environmental harms to the Merrimack River remain in Bow residents’ backyards. Emissions from coal power plants contribute to diseases including asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke. These pollutants interfere with lung development, increase the risk of heart attacks, and compromise intellectual capacity.  Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) from burning coal affects the respiratory system, causes irritation of the eyes and makes people more prone to respiratory tract infections.[8] [9] Even unburned coal piles have been shown to negatively affect health of people living within a 25 mile radius.[10]

In New England, coal makes up just 1% of generated electrical power, but it's a disproportionately dirty and greenhouse-gas-emitting slice.[11]  Coal is the most polluting fuel in use, and is particularly harmful to Earth's fragile climate and ecological diversity.

As the largest historical emitter, the United States has a moral and legal responsibility to cut emissions sooner than the rest of the world.[12]  Delayed action will increase the economic and societal challenges brought on by climate change and ecological destruction.[13]  Despite public acknowledgement of the crisis, state and national political leaders continue to support subsidies - using the taxes of working people to fund dirty and obsolete fuel sources like coal and systems like Merrimack Generating Station.[14] [15] [16] We must stop releasing fossil fuel emissions into the atmosphere immediately.[17] 

When Merrimack station is shuttered for good, there needs to be a future both for the workers and the site on the banks of the Merrimack River. A transition must:

• Re-utilize the plant facilities to replace losses in the tax base.

• Create jobs restoring the site and fund job-creating community economic development.

• Ensure a just transition for workers.

A just transition could begin by repurposing the millions of dollars in subsidies already earmarked for the plant. For example, the $188 million recently allocated to Merrimack could buy over 397 megawatt hours of renewable energy battery storage to respond to peak demand.  Combined with cleaning up the site and housing solar panels rather than coal piles, the plant in Bow could swiftly become a clean energy hub.

[1] NHPR - N.H. Coal Plant Will Run Through At Least 2025 After Latest Grid Auction

[2] Granite Shore Power -Merrimack Station

[3] SciencePolicy Circle, The “Peakers” : The role of peaking power plants and their relevance today

[4] National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Power Plant Cycling Costs

[5] Concord Monitor, Does the Bow power plant really emit more CO2 in an hour than I do in 25 years?

[6] Move.org, The Cost of Utilities: Which States Pay the Most?

[7] ISO-NE, About the FCM and Its Auctions

[8] Physicians for Social Responsibility, Coal’s Assault on Human Health

[9] World Health Organization, Ambient (outdoor) air pollution

[10] Carnegie Mellon University, Study: Coal Storage Takes Toll on People Living, Working Nearby

[11] ISO-NE, Resource Mix

[12] Our World in Data, How has each country’s share of global cumulative CO2 emissions changed over time?

[13] Energy Innovation Policy and Technology LLC, Cost of Delay

[14] Forbes, United States Spend Ten Times More On Fossil Fuel Subsidies Than Education

[15] EESI, Fact Sheet | Proposals to Reduce Fossil Fuel Subsidies

[16] The Guardian, Fossil fuel industry gets subsidies of $11m a minute, IMF finds

[17] IPCC, Headline Statements from the Summary for Policymakers