Green Corps organizer Emily Stone with Rice University student volunteers protesting proposed coal power plants at Dynegy headquarters in Houston, TX.

When Sierra Club wanted to stop the construction of six proposed coal power plants they called Green Corps into action.

Over the past several years, with a lack of public dialogue and government movement on global warming, plans have emerged to build as many as 150 new coal-fired power plants across the United States. This new generation of coal plants would add 790 million tons of carbon to the air each year.

If these plants are built, scientists believe that we will be unable to achieve the emissions reductions we need to avoid the worst effects of global warming. To make matters worse, pollution from coal-fired power plants has been directly linked to more than 24,000 premature deaths every year. Coal power increases instances of asthma and places children at risk of long-term developmental and cognitive damage from mercury exposure.

Sierra Club has come to the forefront of the fight against coal-fired power plants with a commitment to stop the construction of all new plants. One of their chief targets is Houston-based Dynegy, one of the nation’s largest coal producers, who is planning to develop nine new coal plants.

Green Corps organizers are working with Sierra Club to stop the construction of these new plants, as well as pressuring Dynegy to shift from coal to renewable energy sources and increased efficiency. Organizers are mobilizing members of local Sierra Club chapters and identifying volunteers who will lead the campaign and help turn out community members to events and the Dynegy shareholder meeting in Houston.