Does a new coal-fired power plant make sense in 2016?
Indeed, Obama wrote of his visit with Michelle to the area in his first ever trip to Kenya before they got engaged in the early 90s.
The main island hosts a UNESCO world heritage site, a 14th century town built up due to the confluence of African, Arab and European (as well as some Chinese, Indian) traders.
Work on the coal-fired plant is likely to begin in 2017 but its construction is starting to face strong opposition from a minority.
Main concerns are environmental destruction due to thermal effluent into the ocean, as well as air pollution.
1400 Chinese workers (nearly half the labor required) will be brought in to work on the plant.
While Kenya desperately needs the power, and is carrying out other major clean energy projects (e.g the largest wind power plant in Africa, which Google has invested in), coal sounds really concerning.
Does a new coal-fired power plant make sense in 2016, given that other developed countries (e.g the UK) are planning to phase out coal power within the next decade?
FWIW, major deposits of natural gas have recently been found in neighboring countries.