Upcoming Events
PhD Dissertation Defense
Aug 13, 2020, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Virtual
Candidate: Ken Sandler
Defense Date and Time: August 13, 2020, 10:00 am-12:00pm
Defense Location: WebEx (Please email espgrad@gmu.edu to request link)
Defense Title: The Impact of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Program on Proposed New Coal-Fired Power Plants at the Turn of the 21st Century
Dissertation Director: Dr. A. Alonso Aguirre
Committee: Dr. David M. Hart, Dr. Sharon deMonsabert, Donald M. Kreis, J.D.
ABSTRACT
After President George W. Bush encouraged the development of hundreds of new coal-fired power plants, the Sierra Club created a program, Beyond Coal, to oppose these plants and prevent a surge in greenhouse gas emissions. Ultimately, 86.4% of these projects failed. My dissertation explored both the extent to which these failures could be attributed to Beyond Coal and its overall strategy, which forced project delays as economic and political pressures on plant developers increased.