A handful of environmentalists delivered valentines to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's representative yesterday, urging Kaine to oppose a proposed coal-burning power plant in Southwest Virginia.

The valentines carried sentiments such as "I ? mountains."

Power-plant opponents say that if Dominion Virginia Power builds the proposed $1.8 billion power plant in Wise County, it will encourage more strip mining in the region's mountains. Emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases from the plant will harm health and contribute to global warming, they say.

Opponents favor conservation and renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, to meet Virginia's growing energy needs.

Virginia Power says its customers' demand for electricity will grow by 4,000 megawatts, or the equivalent use of 1 million homes, in the next decade. Conservation and renewables will not be enough to meet that demand, the company says.

Josh Tulkin, deputy director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, a supporter of wind energy, said the group also wanted to ask Kaine to come to Southwest Virginia and see the destruction from strip mining.

Opponents then met with Steve Walz of the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. They told Walz that Kaine should delay a state decision on the plant until the governor's Commission on Climate Change issues its recommendations in mid-December.

Virginia Power wants to build a 585-megawatt plant near the town of St. Paul and the Clinch River, home to a variety of endangered river mussels. Aiming to boost the coal industry, the General Assembly wrote into law in 2004 that construction of such a plant would be in the public interest.

The utility is seeking an environmental permit for the proposed plant that would allow it to emit yearly up to 5.3 million tons of carbon dioxide and 7,719 tons of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. Virginia Power has agreed to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions below those initially proposed to prevent damage to forests in the region.

Department of Environmental Quality hearings on the project drew an estimated 600 people to a St. Paul auditorium Monday night and 100 on Tuesday. Supporters dominated the Monday crowd, speaking for four hours.

Dana Kilgore, a member of the Wise County Board of Supervisors, said the plant would help diversify and stimulate the local economy. Supporters said additional tax revenue from the plant would help the county repair its aging schools.

Some said opposition to the plant was coming mostly from outsiders who are part of a national effort to put an end to the use of coal. Ron Flanary, head of the local planning district commission, urged state officials to give more weight to comments from those who live close to the site.

Opponents had their chance to speak on Tuesday. They urged the state board to look at studies that show living near a coal plant can cause health problems. Beth Bingman, a local resident, reminded the board that the hearing was to focus on air pollution but most supporters touted the plant's economic benefits.

The DEQ will hold a hearing on the plant in the Richmond area at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The location will be announced later.

Contact Greg Edwards at (804) 649-6390 or gedwards@timesdispatch.com.

Kathy Still of the Bristol Herald Courier contributed to this report.