In The Colorado Observer today there is a story about the new job-killing carbon regulations for coal propagated by the Obama administration. The regulations have the practical effect of stopping the building of any new coal plants, by mandating a carbon emission level not currently possible.
Reports Valerie Richardson:
DENVER – The Environmental Protection Agency delivered a devastating blow to the coal industry Tuesday with the release of its first-ever proposal to impose strict limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from newly built power plants.
The proposed regulations would all but eliminate the construction of coal-fired power plants by holding them to a limit of 1,000 lbs. of carbon-dioxide emissions per megawatt hour. Analysts say the only way coal-fired plants could meet that standard would be with carbon-capture and storage technology, which is still in the early stages of development and has yet to prove cost-effective.
A 1,000 lb limit per megawatt? Why does that matter?
Reports The Washington Post:
The average U.S. natural gas plant, which emits 800 to 850 pounds of CO2 per megawatt, meets that standard; coal plants emit an average of 1,768 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt.
We thought Obama's campaign materials said he was for an "all of the above" energy policy. If no coal plants can be built fitting the new Obama admin standard, then how can he claim he's for all of the above?
Beyond the boneheaded move to appease the enviro left, this story has an interesting angle for Colorado politics specifically.
Colorado US Senator Mark Udall, and his wife Maggie Fox, a left wing wacko who has spent her life working for liberal special interest groups, praised the decision.
Fox's statement in the Observer:
Maggie L. Fox, president and CEO of The Climate Reality Project, said the draft meant “the coal industry must clean up its act, or make way for cheaper, cleaner ways to power our country.” [Peak emphasis]
“As the record-breaking temperatures we’re experiencing this month all over the United States and Canada make clear, it’s past time for bold solutions,” said Fox, who’s married to Udall, in a statement.
Senator Udall's statement in the CO "Independent":
Moving our country toward a clean energy future will help stabilize energy prices, create new jobs, diversify the energy sources on which we depend, and make our country more secure.
Actually, Senator Udall, this plan does none of that.
Stabilize prices? Obama himself said his plan for carbon emissions on coal would make "electricity rates necessarily skyrocket." So, no, Senator Udall, this carbon emissions plan doesn't help stabilize prices at all.
Create new jobs…how? If the coal companies can't build any more plants, how many Coloradans do you think will be employed in 10 years?
Diversify energy sources…by killing the future of one of those sources?
Make our country more secure? You do realize that we get our coal from America, not Saudi Arabia, right?
Senator Udall, why do you celebrate the potential loss of thousands of jobs for hardworking Coloradans?
Do you agree with your wife that the coal industry should "make way" for other sources?
How would they make way? With the carbon emissions plan, wouldn't it be Abound Solar employees "making way" for coal plant employees in the unemployment line?