Tag Archives: air quality
Coal Plant Critics File Supreme Court Brief
Environmental activists working against a proposed $2.8 billion coal-fired power plant in southwest Kansas filed a brief with the Kansas Supreme Court outlining objections to issuance of a state permit needed to proceed with construction of the controversial projec Continue reading
A Spineless Public Official
Robert Moser is secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, paid with tax dollars to protect public health. And he’s been making some pretty important decisions lately about the Sunflower Electric power plant, including another one Thursday. Alas, Moser refuses to return phone calls to The Kansas City Star’s reporters after he makes those decisions. In my book, that’s a spineless decision, showing that a public official doesn’t have the courage to stand up and explain his or her actions to the public. Continue reading
Sunflower Coal Plant Gets Break from State on New Pollution Laws
The controversial Sunflower coal plant in western Kansas may have caught a break Thursday when the state gave it an unusual extension on its construction permit. The state order means the proposed power plant apparently will not have to face new and stricter pollution laws when the utility finally breaks ground. Continue reading
Utilities Companies Weighing Cost of Environmental Retrofits with Building Newer, Cleaner Energy
An energy case before the Kansas Corporation Commission could set a precedent for how utility companies handle expensive environmental upgrades to their coal plants. Continue reading
Westar: ‘No Way’ We Can Meet Pollution Rules
Westar Energy’s top air-quality official says it will be impossible for the state’s dominant electric company to comply with new federal pollution regulations taking effect at the beginning of next year. Continue reading
Carbon Capture may be Buried
The Columbus, Ohio-based utility says that it has chosen to pull back because of the high price of the tools that would be used to capture the carbon before it would be piped and buried in geological formations. That fact, coupled with the prevailing political landscape, means that it would be unable to recover its expenses from ratepayers. Continue reading
Utility Shelves Ambitious Plan to Limit Carbon
American Electric Power has decided to table plans to build a full-scale carbon-capture plant at Mountaineer, a 31-year-old coal-fired plant in West Virginia, where the company has successfully captured and buried carbon dioxide in a small pilot program for two years. Continue reading
With New Pollution Rules, EPA Tries to Save Texas from Itself
Now, in a not-so-surprising move, the Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a new rule that will compel 27 states to cut smokestack emissions. The regulation targets coal-fired power plants and requires the reduction of sulfur dioxide, which contributes to soot and acid rain, and nitrogen oxide, a component of smog. Continue reading
Cutting Coal Plant Emissions
It’s a classic debate about government’s role. Case in point: The Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a rule that will drastically cut sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions — a move that has greenies applauding and coal advocacy groups making dire warnings. Continue reading
West Texas City to Give Proposed Coal Plant Water
A West Texas town agreed Tuesday to sell much-needed water to a company that wants to build a coal-fired power plant, even though environmental groups argue the arid area can’t spare the resource. Continue reading
