Laura Miller



In January, 2008, former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller resigned her position as head of the Texas Clean Air Cities Coalition in order to work as a public relations consultant for Summit Power Group. Summit is planning a 600 megawatt integrated gasification combined cycle coal plant at an as yet unspecified location in Texas that would sell its carbon dioxide for oil field injection.

Miller declined to provide any details on where the proposed plant would be when asked about the project by Dallas Morning News. (On its website, Summit does not list any projects for Texas but states that "several IGCC projects in process of negotiation using Siemens Westinghouse 501FD combined cycle equipment.")

"It's one thing for us to go fight these plants, especially when the current political atmosphere in Texas is that these plants will get permitted whether they're clean or not. The real coup will be finding a solution," she told the Dallas Morning News.

Background
A biographical note on Summit Energy Group's website states that Miller was "Mayor of Dallas from 2002 to 2007. During her tenure, she led the opposition against 18 old-technology coal plants proposed for Texas. Ms. Miller has been an advocate for coal gasification, carbon sequestration, renewables, nuclear, conservation, and energy efficiency.  She also led a real estate development boom in downtown Dallas, leveraging $190 million in city financial incentives to spark $1.3 billion in private investment.  She also has extensive experience with public finance, including arranging for the two largest bond packages in the history of Dallas and restructuring Dallas' pension system with pension obligation bonds.  Prior to becoming Mayor, Ms. Miller was a member of the Dallas City Council."

A City of Dallas biographical note from 2007 stated that "before being elected to the Dallas City Council in 1998, Laura was an award-winning journalist for 18 years. She worked as a columnist and investigative reporter for the Dallas Observer, the Dallas Times Herald, the New York Daily News, The Dallas Morning News, and The Miami Herald."

SourceWatch resources

 * Luminant
 * Texas and coal