Coal Power Plants

A Win for ‘Keep it in the Ground’
Coal mining in Wyoming will take a major hit as a result of a U.S. Department of Interior plan to cease future leasing of coal mines in the nation's most productive coal mining basin. The decision casts a spotlight on the presidential election.

COP28: Will Developed Nations Reduce Emissions?
Tensions between developed and developing nations surfaced over emissions and energy, with the former focused on reducing fossil fuels and the latter pointing to unrealized emissions reductions from the nations most responsible for global warming.

Minnesota Slowly Turns Away from Coal-Fired Energy
Minnesota utility company Xcel Energy plans to close four coal plants by 2030 and fully switch to renewable energy sources by 2050.

Scrutinizing the Reality of Bernie's Energy and Climate Plans
CNN host Fareed Zakaria questions whether the goals of Sanders' ambitious Green New Deal are realistic.

Shuttering a Large Coal Plant: A Tale of Two States
Environmentalists in California are upset that Los Angeles will build a new 840-megawatt natural gas plant to replace a 1,800-megawatt coal plant. The coal plant has been crucial to the economic development of Millard County, Utah.

It's Official: Obama's Clean Power Plan Has Been Replaced by the Trump Administration
It took less than a year for the EPA to finalize the Affordable Clean Energy rule, which will allow older coal-burning plants to continue operating, in the Trump administration's most consequential environmental rollback accomplished to date.
Michael Bloomberg Launches $500 Million 'Beyond Carbon' Campaign
The "War on Coal" is back, in the form of a new grassroots political campaign bankrolled by Bloomberg Philanthropies to decarbonize power generation by targeting existing coal power plants and halting the growth of natural gas replacements.

Regulators Scold Utility for Proposing Natural Gas to Replace Coal
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is concerned about the lack of renewable options for replacing a coal plant in Wabash County.

No Good News for Climate Stabilization From a New Worldwide Energy Report
Last month, the Paris-based International Energy Agency released its annual "Global Energy & CO2 Status Report." Energy consumption grew 2.3 percent with fossil fuels accounting for 70 percent on the increase. CO2 emissions jumped 1.7 percent.

Report: Most U.S. Coal Plants Uncompetitive with Renewables
The report heralds increased shuttering of coal-burning powered plants due to cheaper alternatives. Almost three-quarters of coal-burning power plants today are more costly to operate than renewable facilities. In six years, it jumps to 86 percent.

New Mexico Legislation Charts Path Away From Coal, But It Won't Be Easy
The Energy Transition Act passed the New Mexico state House on March 12 and heads to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the state's new Democratic governor who supports clean energy, but losing a coal plant early causes far-reaching economic impacts.

EPA Targets Co-Benefits in Rulemaking—Public Health to Suffer
The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a critical change in the cost-benefit analysis used in the mercury rule that applies to coal-fired power plants. By eliminating the principle of co-benefits, public health impacts would be severe.

Global Coal Consumption Grows After Three Years of Decline
The rise is attributed to Asian nations, particularly India and China, where coal-power plants are newer than in the West. It shows a growing disconnect between energy and climate goals, warned the International Energy Agency.
Hurricane Florence Causes Coal Ash Spill at Former Coal Power Plant
The breach of the coal ash landfill by a former coal-burning power plant in Wilmington, North Carolina serves as a reminder that even after coal plants are shuttered, the by-products of the world's most polluting fossil fuel can still cause harm.
The Far-Reaching Consequences of Remaking the Mercury Emissions Rule
The EPA intends to review the rulemaking process behind the mercury rule, the subject of a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2015, to place more value on a rule's compliance cost to industry and less to its beneficial impact on human health.

Making Older Coal Power Plants More Efficient Without Making Them Cleaner
At the center of the EPA's newly proposed Affordable Clean Energy rule is doing away with a permitting process known as New Source Review that requires coal power plants to add scrubbers and other expensive pollution control equipment when upgraded.

'Affordable Clean Energy Rule' Proposed to Replace Clean Power Plan
On Tuesday, EPA released its new rule to regulate emissions from existing power plants, essentially leaving it to the states to determine appropriate emissions levels rather than setting actual standards each state has to meet like the current rule.

Trump Rebuffed by Federal Energy Commissioners on Coal and Nuclear Power Bailout
Last month the Trump administration directed Energy Secretary Rick Perry to require grid operators to purchase power from aging coal and nuclear power plants, enabling them to keep operating as a matter of "national security." Regulators disagree.

Keeping Old Coal Plants Operating Just Became a Matter of National Security
The president hopes to revitalize the nation's sagging coal industry by forcing utilities to purchase power from aging coal and nuclear power plants in the name of national defense. The news is already paying dividends for coal companies.

Scott Pruitt and the 'Paradigm Shift' at Trump's EPA
In just his first year, the high-profile and controversial cabinet member “has begun to dismantle former president Barack Obama’s environmental legacy.”
Pagination
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research