Do Not Curb Your Enthusiasm, as EPA Honors Laura Miller

Looks like former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller's battle with Big Coal didn't go unnoticed by some folks in D.C. Because yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency included her among some 15 recipients of the 2008 Climate Protection Award. Also receiving the honor -- which is bestowed upon folks who "have demonstrated ingenuity and leadership by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, negotiating international agreements to protect the ozone layer and climate, and spreading awareness about the importance of these issues," whew -- is Laurie David, who is not to be confused with Cheryl Hines. Notes the EPA of the former mayor:

City of Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, through sheer determination and organizational and persuasive leadership, led a group of Mayors representing 36 Texas cities, counties and school districts to form the Texas Clean Air Cities Coalition (TCACC) that successfully protested the approval of 17 new coal-fired power plants that would have added well over one hundred million tons of CO2 to the atmosphere each year. Mayor Miller and the Coalition challenged the approval of the additional coal plants in order to preserve Texas air quality, keep the areas of Waco, Austin and East Texas from going into non-attainment, and to lower carbon emissions. In particular, the TCACC intervened against TXU's eight proposed coal units across Texas that would have added 30,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, over 115 million tons of CO2, and nearly 4,000 pounds of toxic mercury each year. Due to the Coalition's efforts, the Administrative Judges allowed discovery regarding carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. This ruling presented the first of its kind during Texas permitting processes. TXU subsequently cancelled the construction of all eight of its plants. Miller, a former journalist who served as Mayor from 2002 to 2007, is now working as Director of Projects Texas with Colorado-based Summit Power to build the first commercially viable IGCC (Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) power plant with CCS (Carbon Capture and Sequestration) in the United States.