Tag Archives: coal-fired power plants
EPA Issues First National Standards for Mercury Pollution from Power Plants
More than 20 years ago, a bipartisan Congress passed the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and mandated that EPA require control of toxic air pollutants including mercury. To meet this requirement, EPA worked extensively with stakeholders, including industry, to minimize cost and maximize flexibilities in these final standards. There were more than 900,000 public comments that helped inform the final standards being announced today.
EPA estimates that the new safeguards will prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks a year. The standards will also help America’s children grow up healthier – preventing 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms and about 6,300 fewer cases of acute bronchitis among children each year. Continue reading
Coal Power Produces Majority of North America’s Emissions
Research from the report shows power plants contribute 33% of the region’s greenhouse gas emissions, and the majority of those emissions can be tied to the combustion of coal. For the U.S. and Canada, coal-fired power plants alone are responsible for 98% of all mercury released from fossil-fuel electric generation and 88% in Mexico. Continue reading
EPA to Unveil Stricter Rules for Power Plants
More than 20 years ago, Congress ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate toxic air pollution. It’s done that for most industries, but not the biggest polluters — coal and oil-burning power plants. Those upwind power plants are in other states, and that’s why it’s so important for the EPA this time to adopt strong nationwide rules with tough deadlines, despite all the political pressure it’s under not to do so. Continue reading
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
Who’s Killing the Coal-Fired Power Plant?
EPA rules are only an accelerant, and only in some cases; and may give many power companies the cover to launch costly new projects with huge returns, and to tighten markets in a way that could drive up prices and profits. Companies are shutting down many older, dirtier coal plants because it makes better economic sense. Continue reading
Will New Power Plant Pollution Rules Shut Out Your Lights?
If one thinks that concerns about reliability have been overblown, there is plenty of food for thought. Continue reading
Yet More Evidence That Shutting Down Coal Plants Will Not Threaten Reliability
There’s a growing — at this point overwhelming — body of evidence that it is perfectly possible to shut down the nation’s dirtiest coal plants and still keep the lights on. This won’t stop industry shills from fear mongering. Continue reading
Constellation Power Plant Meets EPA Goals AEP Calls Unattainable
While rivals such as American Electric Power Co. are lobbying for a delay, Constellation is urging President Barack Obama to stick to the EPA’s plans. “It’s entirely possible to comply with these rules and remain a profitable company,” Allen said. Continue reading
Is the EPA Really a ‘Jobs Killer’?
Industry-paid studies often include questionable assumptions and economic models not validated by broad peer review. Jobs could also be created, not just destroyed, by regulation. The EPA’s rules are required to undergo a transparent cost-benefit analysis that is peer reviewed by others. The idea that environmental regulations would wipe out an industry or have a serious impact is implausible. Early estimates of cleanup costs are invariably wildly overstated. Continue reading
Thirsty Power Plants Threaten Watersheds, Study Finds
Coal-fired plants alone account for 67 percent of freshwater withdrawals by the power sector and for 65 percent of the water completely consumed by it. So many plants rely on water-cooling that they accounted for 41 percent of the withdrawals of freshwater in the United States in 2005. Continue reading
