We believe that the Arkansas Public Service Commission made a mistake when it approved Swepco's plans for a new coal-fired electric generating plant to be built near Texarkana. Far from being "clean," this plant will spew five million tons of global warming pollution into the atmosphere every year, increasing our states' global warming emissions by 8 percent. This is especially ironic when the Arkansas legislature earlier this year voted overwhelmingly to establish the Governor's Commission on Global Warming with the purpose of establishing, by the time of the 2009 legislative session, a reduction goal, and a plan for achieving it. This coal-fired plant approval is truly a step backwards in this fight agaist climate change.

There exist better solutions, such as, wind and solar power which are both energy efficient and renewable resources. Furthermore, both of these solutions will provide more jobs for Arkansans than will be provided by the planned coal plant. Solar power is an especially viable solution because Arkansas averages 272 days of sunshine per year.

We call on you to issue a moratorium on all physical preparations for construction of this coal-fired plant in Texarkana.