since all coal power plants will be shut down in 1 to 2 years from now that’s 50000 - 1000000 carloads less a week rrs haul. where will rrs get business to replace ? and panama canal to open will be more loose rev. for west rrs. big revenue losses coming.
Oil.
(And not all the coal plants will be shutting down.)
Don’t forget all the export coal. Some people here may think it’s bad but others’ll buy all they can get.
Higher electricity prices, rolling blackouts due to shortages, minimal reduction if any in global polution since India and China are adding one coal fired power plant per week. Oh and a lot of coal going there from here by rail to ports.
Obama says they will be lower.
The same rationale for banning coal also applies to oil. It also applies to export coal because it is based on the objection to coal, period. And it also applies to export coal because domestic coal mining is necessary for export coal; and there is strong objection to domestic coal mining.
But banning coal is just the tip of the iceberg. What will replace the American Dream?
Where did you get this information? Even the Obama admin says they expect coal to provide 31% of the electricity in the US by 2030 (source EPA administrator interviews on 6/3/2014).
Actually, I believe the quote was “electricity prices will necessarily skyrocket…”
That’s enough politics for now. I’m probably already in trouble with the forum gods…
Trolls instead of coal. Simple!
The Fat Lady hasn’t sung yet.
Poppyl
What will replace coal? As a commodity to be transported? As a fuel for power plants? As an export product? As an environmental hazard? As a billion dollar investment opportunity? Depends on who is asking.
As for the Panama Canal traffic, the West Coast traffic will suffer little, if any.
What will transit the canal is the same products that do so now, just in larger quantities, with maybe a small percent of the west coast stuff skipping there and porting on the gulf and east coast.
Wind and sun.
Those ballast cars with solar panels on them will be repurposed for the transportation of both simultaneously.
Wind and Sun my Keester! What will replace coal? It’s gonna’ be banana gas!
Guys, I’m tellin’ ya straight, put every dime you’ve got in to banana gas. It’s the Fuel Of The Future!
Either that or electricity rates will skyrocket and we’ll all be poor together. Somebody once said something like that.
But banana gas already has Too Much Carbon Dioxide. Even before you get to the one inconvenient carbon too much in the formula – that’s more than 6x10e23 extra climate-changing carbons per mole!
Frickin’ frackin’ methane is a better answer… fastest hydrocarbon known. (And useful in converting powerplants, too, or so I’ve been told; it’s not just for peaking anymore!)
What will replace coal is conservation due to a high price, and a smart meter to shape your habits.
China just may be going to start reducing coal use, mostly due to internal popular pressure:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/03/china-pledges-limit-carbon-emissions
Didn’t he say the same about the affordable care act. He also said you could keep your doctor.
I bet there are reports in the whitehouse showing banning coal will create high prices, or worse, no power for many Americans.
Oil…
“Drill baby drill.”
Ed
Other freight will replace coal. Looking further down the line we need to think about what will replace all those Asian imports eventually… they won’t remain cheap forever.