Coal Power Plants

Coal mining equipment and vehicles at coal mining site in Wyoming.

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.

June 4, 2024 - Irvin Dawid

Aerial view of industrial plant with large smokestacks, surrounded by smoke with sunset sky in background.

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.

December 6, 2023 - The Wall Street Journal

Coal Mine

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.

July 30, 2020 - MinnPost

Presidential Campaign

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.

February 24, 2020 - The Washington Post

Coal Power

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.

July 23, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Power Plant

It's Official: Obama's Clean Power Plan Has Been Replaced by the Trump Administration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.

June 21, 2019 - The New York Times

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.

June 10, 2019 - The New York Times

Coal-Fired Power Plant

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.

May 3, 2019 - The Evansville Courier & Press

Energy Factory II

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.

April 5, 2019 - The Washington Post

Fund Clean Energy - Stop HRL Coal Fired power station - withdraw federal grant

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.

March 29, 2019 - InsideClimate News

New mexico Power

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.

March 19, 2019 - Santa Fe New Mexican

Global warming and pollution

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.

January 3, 2019 - The Washington Post

Coal Mine

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.

November 6, 2018 - Financial Times

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.

September 19, 2018 - Utility Dive

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.

September 9, 2018 - The New York Times

Coal Ash Waste

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.

August 27, 2018 - The New York Times

Utility-Scale Solar

'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.

August 22, 2018 - The New York Times

Nuclear Power

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.

June 18, 2018 - InsideClimate News

Coal Ash

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.

June 4, 2018 - Bloomberg Politics

Scott Pruitt

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.”

January 8, 2018 - The Washington Post

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

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