Old-style coal plants expanding

[phantom power]

Utilities across the country are building dozens of old-style coal plants that will cement the industry's standing as the largest industrial source of climate-changing gases for years to come.

An Associated Press examination of U.S. Department of Energy records and information provided by utilities and trade groups shows that more than 30 traditional coal plants have been built since 2008 or are under construction.

The construction wave stretches from Arizona to Illinois and South Carolina to Washington, and comes despite growing public wariness over the high environmental and social costs of fossil fuels, demonstrated by tragic mine disasters in West Virginia, the Gulf oil spill and wars in the Middle East.

The expansion, the industry's largest in two decades, represents an acknowledgment that highly touted "clean coal" technology is still a long ways from becoming a reality and underscores a renewed confidence among utilities that proposals to regulate carbon emissions will fail. The Senate last month scrapped the leading bill to curb carbon emissions following opposition from Republicans and coal-state Democrats.

http://www.cdapress.com/news/national_news/article_50279f7a-3c4d-5180-bfd3-dc32eca6339b.html

[Dogmudgeon]

1. Thank Gawd they're not Nukes!

:sarcasm:

--d!

[Confusious]

2. Solar will save us!

and give everyone ponies and rainbows!

[Nihil]

3. Ah, business confidence at its finest ...

> The expansion, the industry's largest in two decades, represents an
> acknowledgment that highly touted "clean coal" technology is still a
> long ways from becoming a reality and underscores a renewed confidence
> among utilities that proposals to regulate carbon emissions will fail.

Truly the "best democracy money can buy".

Fuck the planet, we need profits NOW!

:mad:

[bananas]

4. Yeah, that jumped out at me, it's a really bad sign

It means they aren't afraid of EPA regulations coming down.

[Nihil]

5. Worrying ...

> It means they aren't afraid of EPA regulations coming down.

How can we fight this?

Either it is a massive bluff (i.e., they *can't* stop/deflect/avoid the
EPA or whoever imposes regulation but want to sap our will to fight) or
they really *do* have control (i.e., all of the good will in the world
isn't going to be able to over-ride the power of the $ in the right pocket).

Options?
:shrug:

[kristopher]

6. There is evidence to the contrary in the article...

Utilities say they are clinging to coal because its abundance makes it cheaper than natural gas or nuclear power and more reliable than intermittent power sources such as wind and solar. Still, the price of coal plants is rising and consumers in some areas served by the new facilities will see their electricity bill rise by up to 30 percent.

Industry representatives say those increases would be even steeper if utilities switched to more expensive fuels or were forced to adopt emission-reduction measures.

Approval of the plants has come from state and federal agencies that do not factor in emissions of carbon dioxide, considered the leading culprit behind global warming. Scientists and environmentalists have tried to stop the coal rush with some success, turning back dozens of plants through lawsuits and other legal challenges.

As a result, current construction is far more modest than projected a few years ago when 151 new plants were forecast by federal regulators. But analysts say the projects that prevailed are more than enough to ensure coal's continued dominance in the power industry for years to come.

There is a great deal of reluctance on the part of financial institutions to back coal plants. There is still some financing that is getting done, but, like the nuclear plants this financing is enabled by regulatory mechanisms that make the ratepayers captive to bad decisions by power providers over the long term.

Any new or expanded coal plant is a bad choice, but the fact is the pace development for wind and natural gas already exceeds that of coal and given basic economics (even without carbon pricing) that trend is only going accelerate.

[depakid]

7. Sounds like more of that "change we can believe in"

right alongside that moratorium record expansion of offshore drilling leases.