Appeal Letter from Rainforest Action Network (RAN)

Appeal Letter from Rainforest Action Network (RAN)

Dear Folks,

TXU, a Texas utility company, hopes to build 11 new coal-fired power plants, but first it needs to raise $11 billion to finance the proposed plants. The Texas plants are part of a growth strategy that could make TXU the biggest single corporate greenhouse gas emitter in the United States.

These new power plants would emit a whopping 78 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, and they have a projected lifespan of up to 50 years. With the help of Wall Street bankers, this global warming crime could happen sooner than you think!

We're following the money. Merrill Lynch is one of the banks helping TXU underwrite this dirty deal. They've already given more than $3 million in support of TXU's project. We need you to call and tell them to stop helping TXU destroy our climate.

Make your phone call now! / http://ga3.org/ct/a7LM9Vn1VmhP/

TXU claims that these dirty plants are needed to meet Texas' energy needs, but independent analysis has shown that energy efficiency, renewables and demand management offer quicker, cheaper and cleaner energy alternatives to meet Texas' current and future needs.

Texas is already the country's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. TXU's proposed new power plants would:

- put out more than the combined greenhouse gas emissions of 21 U.S. states. / - emit as much as the equivalent of 14 million new cars on the roads. / - negate Japan's entire greenhouse gas emission reduction commitment under the Kyoto Protocol.

Furthermore, these plants will cause environmental health problems relating to air and water quality and mercury emissions, threatening nearby communities that include Dallas-Fort Worth and Waco. TXU would like to ignore the consequences of its greenhouse gas pollution, taking advantage of the fact that carbon emissions are unregulated - for now. But with leading economists estimating the true costs of C02 at $85 per ton, TXU's new plants will impose a toll on society of at least $6.6 billion a year.

TXU is awaiting state approval to begin construction, but with help from Texas Governor Rick Perry, who granted a "fast-track" approval process for his political donors at TXU, the company could have permits by April 2007.

However, the company still needs to secure financing - a cool $11 billion worth - and is currently soliciting funds from a series of banks. We are reaching out to those same banks and telling them to stay away from TXU's project.

We need your help. Please call Merrill Lynch and tell them to stop helping TXU finance its dirty coal power projects and instead adopt climate-friendly environmental and social policies.

Thank you for all that you do,

Scott Parkin / Global Finance Campaign / Rainforest Action Network / http://ga3.org/ct/LdLM9Vn1VmhK/