EPA Coal Decision Could Pave Way for Renewable Energy

A recent ruling by the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board could lead to a tougher time for coal power and an easier time for renewable energy. Last Thursday, the board blocked the EPA from issuing a permit to a coal plant addition in Utah and ruled that the agency needs to develop a nationwide standard for dealing with CO2.

This ruling is important because it puts over 100 proposed coal plants on hold while the EPA comes up with new CO2 guidelines. Coal plants will be considered riskier by investors because there's no telling what types of changes will have to be made for them to get the green light. This could convince investors to put their financing behind clean energy projects instead.

If the EPA comes up with even moderately strict CO2 limits, coal companies will have to spend more money on technology that reduces their emissions. This will make coal power more expensive and renewables like solar, wind and geothermal more competitive.

Another positive result of this ruling is that it shows the power of organizations like the Sierra Club. The ruling is due to their appeal to the EPA's original decision to issue the permit to the Utah plant. The Sierra Club cited the 2007 Supreme Court decision that CO2 could be regulated as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. They used this ruling to put pressure on the EPA to stop issuing permits to coal plants, and while the final ruling in this case didn't completely comply with the Sierra Club's interpretation of the act, it did put a stop to all new coal plants for a couple of years.

Hopefully, in the meantime, the Obama administration will take a tough stand on coal and we'll start to see the decline of coal power as we know it and the rise of new clean power technologies.

via Wired

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AC Doctor
written by Tony Carter, November 17, 2008

Hopefully one day our dependence on coal and oil will end. The sooner we get to affordable renewable energy sources, the better it will be for everyone.

The Jobless American
written by miltowny, November 17, 2008

On a daily basis, I see a need for green tech jobs. I see welders, metal workers, home builders and etc struggling to find work. Sitting in my office with someone digging to get by, telling me their story makes me wish we could do something.

If we would just commit to green tech, we could give all these people jobs.

...
written by EV, November 17, 2008

If we would just commit to green tech, we could give all these people jobs.

How?

One Fossil Fuel for Another
written by James, November 17, 2008

While I am a firm advocate of renewable energy options, sometimes my pessimism sneaks through. The limitation on CO2 emissions needs to be strong enough that coal will not simply be replaced by "Clean" (aka "not as dirty as") "and more economical" natural gas generation.

But At What Price
written by M, November 18, 2008

When the government prohibits cheap power from being produced, both growth and the economy will suffer. All this will do is turn the recession into a longer one - if not a depression.

Green power may be great, but the cost to *entirely* run the country on it is much too expensive.

EPA has failed its most basic responsibi
written by Rebecca Kulp, November 18, 2008

Now that Obama is coming into town the lying thieving scum bags are trying to save their jobs. I say fire everyone of them. The agency had to be sued to get them to enforce the law. These sick idiots want to pretend like they are all good again. Fire every one of them and destroy and company who offers them a job. They helped to destroy the air and water in this country and now they want us to believe that they are good enforcers of the law. They are useless. Fire everyone of them and they file criminal complaints and indictments for failure to protect the people from the pollution. 23,019 people died in California as a direct result of pollution. I would charge them with 1 degree pre meditated murder. These children and elderly people died a horrible death because of these thugs who failed to enforce their most basic laws.

...
written by Chris, November 18, 2008

Just wonderful. So electricity will become ridiculously expensive (don't forget that if you want to do more than just supplement coal with solar, wind, etc., you need massive energy storage systems which don't actually exist, because people need electricity at night and when the wind isn't blowing as hard, or is blowing too hard)

If carbon really is a problem ban news papers and airline flights. In the age of the internet, both are completely superfluous.

Making the lifeblood of everything that happens (electricity) absurdly expensive and intermitent (between brown-outs and weather being uncooperative) is just stupid. I mean, massively brain dead stupid.

If you're this terrified of extra plant food in the atmosphere, push for government subsidies for nuclear plants. And perhaps laws banning environmental impact studies for nuclear plants.

Merely limiting coal is like selling your car because you want to become a good cyclist despite the fact that your job is 40 miles away. You're going to be in for a world of hurt, plus you're likely to lose your job, wind up homeless, and have you sell your bicycle anyway. Not to mention pay for the surgery when someone's dog tripped you up and you broke your collarbone.

Coal is not the bogeyman it is made out
written by Gary, November 18, 2008

Even though coal has been used by mankind for millenia, coal is still the fuel of the future. Coal can power mankind throughout the 21st century and into the 22nd.

There is not a shred of credible evidence to link coal with global warming. It is a plot by the religious green movement to re-engineer capitalism into a form of green communism.

The greens will institute severe restrictions to personal liberty and freedom of expression in the guise of it being 'good for the planet'.

Soon, you will not be allowed to travel unless you submit a C02 emission plan to account for your journey. The greens will censor television and entertainment and insert subliminal green religion messages in an effort to control the carbon agenda.

With suitable chemical transformation, mankind can produce all he needs from coal (this includes, foodstuffs, fuel, lubricants, plastics, medicines, semiconductors and much more).

Coal was put into the ground by God for man. Don't listen to the nay sayers. Coal is the future of mankind.

...
written by Bob Wallace, November 18, 2008

@miltowny -

I recall reading an article recently about the need for wind farm workers/installers in the upper Midwest. Report was that students weren't finishing their junior college training courses as companies were hiring them and training them on the job.

A little digging should turn up some leads....

The right decision
written by Charles H., November 18, 2008

Some of the comments above are quite scary... coal is not the solution to the US energy problems and the small cost saving it provides now is vastly outweighed by the environmental impact you will be paying for in the future (increased droughts, hurricanes, money spent on environmental conservation etc.). If the government of the US makes a decision to stop investing in this dead technology and shows the industry a willingness to invest in renewables and nuclear then the industry will move forward and provide jobs and energy and this can be done without a major change to energy prices. The biggest problem you in the US face at the moment is the lack of direction so no companies want to invest in any direction...

EPA decisions paves the way for massive
written by Fred, November 18, 2008

As Chris says above, purposely restricting coal usage makes electricity more expensive - and we do NOT have any replacement technology in hand, or even in sight, really.

Iit would be a negative change, creating much poverty and misery, all of it completely needless, only because of pure ignorance and stupidity.

If you want to create positive change, offer something better - something that does more for less - not something that does less for more.

Many people are already working hard to create positive change - but this EPA eco-insanity is not it. The completely imaginary environmental effects that Charles has dreamed up are not evident in the real world. Our air and water are cleaner now than they have been for 50 years - we have more trees growing than we did a hundred years ago - the arctic ice is growing at triple the rate expected - and global COOLING is underway, not global warming.

If you want less coal plants built, turn off those extra lights and add insulation in your attic. Get a job closer to home, and bicycle to the grocery store. Have the kids walk to school, and use a push mower on your smaller lawn. Get rid of all the wallwarts and the bigscreen TVs, and trade in that big PC for a laptop. And put a solar hot water tank in your garage.

And let the people building coal plants get on with their jobs. You'll be glad you did.

Coal is the answer if the Earth was stil
written by James, November 18, 2008

I guess when the world community came to the realization that the world is round and we are not at the centre of the universe, there were still a number of misguided people decrying the evidence and screaming "The World is Still Flat". When you have 99% of the scientific community agreeing that humans are affecting the climate of the world, it's time to put your efforts into solving the problem. And you don't solve the problem with "Not so dirty" Coal. You solve it with diversified clean, renewable community or individually generated electricity.

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Get rid of all the wallwarts and the bigscreen TVs, and trade in that big PC for a laptop. And put a solar hot water tank in your garage.

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