Tag Archives: CO2
The Dirtiest of the Dirty Coal Power Plants
Within the top 10 for CO2 emissions rate, top spot goes to Westar Energy’s 1,857-megawatt Jeffrey Energy Center, a plant burning Powder River Basin coal north of Topeka, Kansas, that powered out 1,086 kilograms of CO2 per megawatt-hour. Continue reading
So What’s EPA Up To With Its CO2 Regulations?
EPA is forced to tackle greenhouse gas emissions on a plant-by-plant basis, using what’s called a Best Available Control Technology (BACT) standard. The agency describes it as “a case-by-case decision that takes into account technical feasibility, cost, and other energy, environmental, and economic impacts.” Theoretically regulators can require anything, up to and including different combustion processes and even different fuels. Continue reading
Is It Just Coincidence That States With Anti-Climate Action Resolutions Are Dependent on Coal?
As Grist pointed out yesterday, the US now has 15 states with resolutions attempting to prevent limits on greenhouse gas pollution. Add to that West Virginia Senator John Rockefeller’s bill, just introduced, which would bar the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating stationary sources of pollution for effectively four years. Is it any surprise that the fossil fuel industries, in one way or another, dominate these states? Continue reading
EPA and the Legal Minefield of CO2 Regulation
Environmental lawyers say the Obama Administration is walking through a legal minefield as it plans to regulate greenhouse gases. Continue reading
Clean-thinking America prepares to fire the starting gun in its dash for gas
Carbon dioxide is dangerous, says Lisa Jackson, administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is dangerous, like the growling exhaust pipe of a 25-year-old Chevy Corvette or the sulphurous plume from a coal-fired power station. Overnight, America has decided: carbon-dioxide pollution is a public health hazard and emitters will be shunned like cigarette smokers. Continue reading
The Myth of Clean Coal: Analysis
Coal has issues. Each lump can contain large amounts of sooty particulates, sulfur and nitrogen compounds (which cause acid rain), and traces of mercury and other toxic metals. Although coal-fired power plants are cleaner than they used to be, they are still bad news for the environment and human health. Continue reading
Major coal purchaser and CO2 emitter pushing hard for climate legislation
Of all the companies in the U.S., Duke Energy is the 3rd largest emitter of CO2. Of all the companies in the world, Duke is the 12th biggest emitter. And if North Carolina-based Duke were a country, it would rank No. 41 in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, ahead of entire nations in Europe, Africa and Asia. Continue reading
Your Tax Dollars Subsidize Coal Burning
Image (courtesy Environmental Law Institute) Continue reading
Federal Court: States Can Sue Utilities Over CO2 Emissions
A two-judge panel of a federal appeals court has ruled that big power companies can be sued by states and land trusts for emitting carbon dioxide. The decision, issued Monday, overturns a 2005 District Court decision that the question was political, not judicial. Continue reading
Murkowski’s Game-Changer to Limit EPA Authority Over CO2
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) may attempt to handcuff U.S. EPA’s ability to regulate stationary sources of greenhouse gases with an amendment to the agency’s annual spending bill. Continue reading
