Congressional Research Service bit.ly/Yu6XtE [InsideEPA.com, sub. req'd] The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is outlining a host of unanswered questions about the efficacy and regulatory impacts of legislation to circumvent EPA’s pending coal ash disposal rule with state-crafted standards, which environmentalists say raises potential new hurdles that could further dampen the bills’ prospects for approval. But … Continue reading »
Tagged with Coal …
H.R. 2273 and S. 3512: Analysis of Proposals to Create a Coal Combustion Residuals Permit Program Under RCRA
Congressional Research Service http://1.usa.gov/13lx9a6 [InsideEPA.com Dec. 10, sub. req'd] The Congressional Research Service (CRS) says legislation to circumvent EPA’s pending coal ash disposal rule with state-crafted standards would be an “unprecedented” move by creating a delegated waste permit program with no federal guidelines, likely prompting litigation that will result in courts having to determine such standards…While … Continue reading »
Electricity: Significant Changes Are Expected in Coal-Fueled Generation, but Coal is Likely to Remain a Key Fuel Source
Government Accountability Office http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-72 [From Summary] … In total, GAO identified 15 to 18 percent of coal-fueled capacity that power companies either plan to retire or that GAO estimated may retire–an amount consistent with the forecasts GAO reviewed…. According to stakeholders and three long-term forecasts GAO reviewed, coal is generally expected to remain a key fuel source … Continue reading »
Ripe for Retirement: The Case for Closing America’s Costliest Coal Plants
Union of Concerned Scientists http://bit.ly/Umr86a [From a Greenwire article by Manuel Quinones, sub. req'd] As many as 353 coal-fired power plants in 31 states are economically inviable and “ripe for retirement,” the Union of Concerned Scientists said in a report released today. Citing publicly available data, the peer-reviewed report says the coal-burning plants are more … Continue reading »
Annual Coal Report
US Dept. of Energy, Energy Information Admin. http://www.eia.gov/coal/annual/ Highlights for 2011: U.S. coal production in 2011 increased slightly from 2010, driven by export demand, to roughly 1.1 billion short tons. Production in the Western Region, which includes Wyoming, totaled 587.6 million short tons, a 0.7 percent decline from 2010. In 2011, productive capacity of coal … Continue reading »
Quantifying the Likelihood of Regional Climate Change: A Hybridized Approach
Reprinted from the Journal of Climate, (online first, doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00730.1, 2012) / by C.A. Schlosser, X.Gao, K. Strzepek, A. Sokolov, C.E. Forest, S. Awadalla and W. Farmer http://globalchange.mit.edu/research/publications/2362 [From a Climate Wire article by Nathanael Massey, sub. req'd] …Europe’s emissions may edge higher this year, counteracting gains made by energy efficiency and the adoption of renewables. … Continue reading »
Energy-Water Nexus: Coordinated Federal Approach Needed to Better Manage Energy and Water Tradeoffs
US Government Accountability Office http://gao.gov/products/GAO-12-880 [PEN-e posting] [w] ater and energy are inextricably linked and mutually dependent, with each affecting the other’s availability. Since 2009, GAO has issued five reports on the interdependencies between energy and water. These reports have shown that a considerable amount of water is used to cool thermoelectric power plants, grow … Continue reading »
The Impact of Coal on the Pennsylvania State Budget
Downstream Strategies LLC for the Center for Coalfield Justice http://bit.ly/RfqrM1 [From Report] …In this report, we examine the net impact of the coal industry on the Pennsylvania state budget by compiling data on and estimating both the tax revenues and the expenditures attributable to the industry for Fiscal Year 2010-11: July 1, 2010 through June 30, … Continue reading »
EPA REGULATIONS AND ELECTRICITY: Better Monitoring by Agencies Could Strengthen Efforts to Address Potential Challenges
US Government Accountability Office http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/592542.pdf [From an E&E News PM story by Jeremy P. Jacobs, sub. req'd] Four new or upcoming U.S. EPA air pollution rules that have been sharply criticized by industry may lead to the retirement of between 2 and 12 percent of the nation’s coal-burning power capacity but appear unlikely to significantly … Continue reading »
Net Loss: Comparing the Cost of Pollution vs. the Value of Electricity from 51 Coal-Fired Plants
Environmental Integrity Project http://bit.ly/LE9Mi9 [From Press Release] Up to 5,700 deaths a year can be attributed to 51 of the dirtiest coal fired power plants in the United States with no announced plans for sulfur dioxide (SO2) clean-up measures, according to a new report from the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project (EIP). Even using the most … Continue reading »
