coal-fired plant
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Coal-fired power was the big loser in the economic downturn
There’s some interesting new data out on recent shifts in electricity demand and consumption, courtesy of the DOE/EIA. In 2008, total U.S. power generation was 4.1 million GWh. In 2009, that fell by 4 percent, to 3.9 million. That’s a 4 percent reduction — clearly the result of the economic slowdown. Nothing surprising there. What’s […]
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A closer look at the Clean Air Act provisions preempted by the Senate climate bill
I’ve argued that the Senate climate bill takes away some EPA powers under the Clean Air Act but overall gives the agency more power, and specifically that the bill preserves EPA authority to regulate both new and old coal plants, which is the power it most needs. Now let’s take a closer look at the […]
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The Senate climate bill gives EPA authority over both old and new coal plants
Yesterday I explained how the American Power Act would both curb and expand EPA’s authority to clamp down on greenhouse gases (to net positive effect, or so I argued). I ended with this teaser: Now, there is one extremely good reason to want to preserve Clean Air Act stationary source tools for greenhouse gases: America […]
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Does the Senate climate bill “gut” the Clean Air Act?
Zombie senators will gut your laws and eat your brains!kzamani via Flickr Creative CommonsDoes the Senate climate bill tie the EPA’s hands? You increasingly hear from progressives that the American Power Act — the energy and climate bill introduced by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.) — “guts” the Clean Air Act. Some […]
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Tea Party helps pass carbon tax
Maryland’s Montgomery County Council passed the nation’s first county-level carbon tax on Wednesday thanks in part to a little heckling from a group of rowdy Tea Party protesters. It would be hard to dream up a more delightful twist to cap off a campaign that was about as dramatic as they come in the world […]
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Cashed Coal Plants
As the US struggles to agree on an energy policy, Canada is telling energy providers that they’ll have to gradually close their coal plants when they reach the end of their commercial life, which in most cases is 5 to 15 years from now. As a weekend story in The Globe and Mail explains, the […]
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The hazards of using toxic coal ash for land development
Following the disastrous spill of a billion gallons of coal ash waste from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston plant in December 2008, poorly regulated coal ash impoundments like the one that failed have landed in the public spotlight. But other methods of disposing of coal ash waste have gotten less attention — even though they […]
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Tapping the power of energy efficiency
One of the fastest-growing states in the nation has the potential to save its residents billions of dollars over the next decade and a half and create thousands of new jobs to boot. How? By adopting several common-sense policies to save energy and investing more in clean-energy research. So concludes a new report focused on […]
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Dark Secret of World Water Day: Coal-Fired Plants Drink 1.5 Trillion Gallons
Here’s a sobering fact on World Water Day: Coal-fired power plants use approximately 1.5 trillion gallons of water a year in the US. In many respects, some folks might use more water flicking on their lights, than chugging back a glass of that wondrous stuff. Makes you wonder: Has the EPA ever tabulated the […]