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Teamsters union urges revision of coal pollution rules
So what’s the big surprise? Obama promised to make coal generation so expensive that the plants would be forced to shut down. Yet union members voted overwhelmingly for him, and now act surprised?? When will people learn!
The question is will the tree huggers win or the unions thatbhelped Obama win?
The question is will the tree huggers win or the unions thatbhelped Obama win?
I guess that Obama hope and change isn’t working out so well
I wonder what the price of natural gas will be, once we burn more of it in power plants. We need research to find ways to use coal effectively.
I agree with the teamsters. BNSF is trying to open a coal load out faciltiy to ship coal to Asia at Cherry Point, in Bellingham, Wa., but the tree huggers are against it, even though it would mean aprox. $12 million a year in income to the Whatcom Co. area. It’s hard enough to deal with the elected officials, but to deal with non elected un-officials is even harder.
I’m a huge rail supporter, but I vote with the EPA on this one. Air, water, and soil pollution as well as human-caused warming threaten the planet in enormous ways. Not a hoax. Not to be taken lightly. Proven by science. Coal industries are profitable and must clean up their act accordingly. Sad but true.
I notice all the complaints about Obama but remember since deregulation many of the coal power plants are in fact owned by private companies. These companies will not invest in anything beyond what is basic needs of a power plant because they need to maximize their investments. Now if they shut down the plants they claim it as an investment loss and get a fat tax write off.
No one will really notice until there is a high power demand like a prolonged heat spell or a long cold spell and there will be not enough power buffer available and then you will hear “someone needs to do something about it”.
Here in New Hampshire the push by the legislature is for the utility company to finish selling off the power plants including the coal fired plants because the after market sellers claim they will save everyone from 5 to 20 percent. One of them has already been investigated for market manipulation just like Enron.
Don’t go blaming Obama when the gas and oil interests claim we will have cheap clean gas so convert everything to gas and it will be great. Of course they leave out the fact that the Natural Gas producers are now ramping up to ship as much LNG as possible out to the world market where they can get 4 times what they get in the US. Also far to many people fail to remember the early 70’s when we had “another” natural gas shortage because they were not making enough profit and it was a bad winter so we had rolling black outs / brown outs and schools and factories shut down.
In today’s world the only thing that counts is this months profits and the next quarters bonus.
Unless I am mistaken, the latest EPA regulations are not about carbon dioxide (global warming hoax or non-hoax), but about pollution levels of such things as mercury, arsenic, chromium, nickel, sulfur dioxide and fine particulates, all of which can be damaging to human nerves and/or lead to the development of cancers. It is always a balancing act between production of electricity using “cheap” coal and the bad effects this may have on the health of people living downwind.
How much does it cost to bring these plants into compliance? Seems to me that some of these power companies may be using this as cover to shutter outdated plants, and that the emission control issue is actually secondary. Without actually knowing the numbers and situations, taking either a pro- or anti- environmental position is premature at best.
How much does it cost to bring these plants into compliance? Seems to me that some of these power companies may be using this as cover to shutter outdated plants, and that the emission control issue is actually secondary. Without actually knowing the numbers and situations, taking either a pro- or anti- environmental position is premature at best.
Oh yes, and the chinese and indians (the ones in india) have no pollution controls! I just paid $60 to get my truck “smogged” (state mandated emissions inspection) in California, but chinese coal fired power plants , nor their motor vehicles, have any emission requirements whatsoever! We are buying foreign oil, but there is enough coal in the Powder River Basin to power us for 200 years. How about taking care of America first, just for once?
Oh yes, and the chinese and indians (the ones in india) have no pollution controls! I just paid $60 to get my truck “smogged” (state mandated emissions inspection) in California, but chinese coal fired power plants , nor their motor vehicles, have any emission requirements whatsoever! We are buying foreign oil, but there is enough coal in the Powder River Basin to power us for 200 years. How about taking care of America first, just for once?
Oh yes, and the chinese and indians (the ones in india) have no pollution controls! I just paid $60 to get my truck “smogged” (state mandated emissions inspection) in California, but chinese coal fired power plants , nor their motor vehicles, have any emission requirements whatsoever! We are buying foreign oil, but there is enough coal in the Powder River Basin to power us for 200 years. How about taking care of America first, just for once?
“Bringing the plants into compliance would be so expensive that some power companies already have announced they will close plants because complying with the regulation in the short time permitted by the rule would be too difficult and expensive”
- Um, smells a little fishy, doesn’t it? Exactly what would the power companies do for revenue if they close 40% of their plants? Close up and go home? Ever hear of something called a bluff? The power giants have known these changes have been coming for years and have been dragging their feet and stalling to keep their profits intact every inch of the way. Get Real. How’s your kids’ asthma coming along?
It pains me to take exception to my fellow enthusiasts, but coal is dead! The problems this industry has caused in environmental degradation and human health is beyond calculation. If railroads want to be the ‘clean green’ transport they claim to be they will need to transition away from this fuel quicker than they disposed of steam.
Don’t blame the bureaucrats, the environmentalists, or anyone else. It is science that is the driver of the demise of coal.
Common’ boys, leave the past behind and get on the clean green train of tomorrow. You’ll enjoy the ride!
Joe
The EPA has long since exceeded the limit of its usefulness-- this agency will bankrupt the country and drive every legitimate business off-shore. Its time to get rid of it, one way or another.
This is just awful. It is funny that the unions supported the Demorats and now the Demorats are trying to kill the union workers. You labor guys better wake up and see who your friends are. We conservatives want you and the country to do well.
The following was abstracted from an Announcement from American Electric Power. The conversion from coal to natural gas, as suggested, is apparently more difficult to accomplish than some might expect. Even if plants are converted to natural gas, railroads and their employees will be adversely affected.
March 23, 2012
The plan submitted today differs slightly from the nearly 6,000 MW of anticipated retirements AEP announced in June 2011. The differences are due to the retirement of the 450-MW Sporn Unit 5 in February 2012 (which was included in the June 2011 plan) and the company’s decision to request regulatory approval in Kentucky to retrofit the 800-MW Big Sandy Unit 2 with environmental control equipment rather than retiring the unit. AEP also originally planned to rebuild Big Sandy Unit 1 to be fired with natural gas but now plans to retire that unit. In its notifications with PJM and SPP, AEP confirmed the following unit retirements:
•Conesville Plant Unit 3, Conesville, Ohio – 165 MW;
•Big Sandy Plant Unit 1, Louisa, Ky. – 278 MW;
•Clinch River Plant Unit 3, Cleveland, Va. – 235 MW;
•Glen Lyn Plant (two units), Glen Lyn, W.Va. – 335 MW;
•Kammer Plant (three units), Moundsville, W.Va. – 630 MW;
•KanawhaRiver Plant (two units), Glasgow, W.Va. – 400 MW;
•Muskingum River Plant Units 1, 2, 3 and 4, Beverly, Ohio – 840 MW;
•Picway Plant (one unit), Lockbourne, Ohio – 100 MW;
•Philip Sporn Plant (four units), New Haven, W.Va. – 600 MW;
•Tanners Creek Plant Units 1, 2 and 3, Lawrenceburg, Ind. – 495 MW; and
•Welsh Plant Unit 2, Pittsburg, Texas – 528 MW.
Conesville 3 will retire by Dec. 31, 2012, and Welsh 2 will retire as soon as Dec. 31, 2014, but no later than Dec. 31, 2016, under terms of court-ordered consent decrees related to separate actions. All other units are estimated to be retired June 1, 2015, with final retirement dates based on implementation of the new EPA environmental regulations.