Article X could put more power in New York

You make some excellent points in your June 11 editorial regarding the Legislature's attempt to revive Article X to permit power plants. While few plants were ever built under Article X because of economics, the mechanism is necessary and would encourage new power plants.

However, I disagree that nuclear and coal are "looking backward." While new renewable energy and conservation are needed, they aren't enough.

GE and other energy companies have been improving and building improved modern nuclear plants almost everywhere in the world in the last decades -- except the United States.

Lack of public education and political courage has damaged us here, as in many other areas of public concern. It may yet happen, but not without a policy permitting and promoting it. Nuclear has no carbon dioxide, and we can deal with the waste technically -- it's just politically that's the problem.

And coal can be clean too, even without the advanced technology of integrated gasification combined cycle and supercritical pulverized coal technology -- not sure if one of those is the "coal fusion" you referred to; but there are several of those operating now.

Existing plants could practice carbon capture and sequestration to remove carbon dioxide at existing coal-fired power plants virtually "tomorrow," if Bush ever had a forward-looking idea in U.S. energy policy. Now there's where the "backward looking" really is. There are signs of hope, though.

New York with its Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative could team with California and the budding Western States Climate Initiative to promote these technologies, as well as renewing Article X with provisions to include "good old" energy technologies, but with incentives for carbon dioxide and other pollutant reductions.

"Clean coal" is here today, but needs incentives -- these, too, will be encouraged with a good Article X in New York.

Renewal of Article X needs support and encouragement in the right places, to get the power industry moving again in New York -- and moving toward clean energy.

PETER DESROCHERS

Ballston Lake