AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Xcel Energy hosted its annual meeting Wednesday to discuss investment in coal plants, and some shareholders peacefully protested outside the Civic Center doors.
Leslie Glustrom was one of those shareholders. She feels it is a bad idea for the company to invest money into a natural resource that potentially has negative effects on human health and the environment.
"We're here today because coal is a toxic investment," she said. "Most people know that coal is bad for humans. There's a lot of pollution. It causes a lot of health problems. It's also bad for the planet. The science is very clear that the kinds of heat waves that have been seen in Texas are exactly what we predict as we add more and more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere."
Glustrom added she and the rest of those opposed to coal investments do no like the thought of Xcel taking out hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds to pay off coal plants. They made their opinions known with a banner and fliers as fellow shareholders passed by.
"We're here to talk about coal plants that are going bankrupt in New York. Coal prices are going up five to ten percent a year around the country. When they do that, they drive up the cost of producing power from a coal plant and coal plants can no longer compete."
Glustrom hopes the management at Xcel takes the protestors' opinions into serious consideration.
"We have over 20 times the amount of wind and solar we need to power our country," she said.
In New Mexico, some 50 protesters showed up at PNM's Albuquerque meeting, pushing for the closing of a coal-fired power plant in the northwestern part of the state.
