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NEWS ABOUT: coal power

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20 Most Toxic States

Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida at the top

(Newser) - Ohio accounts for more air pollution than any other state, according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council spotted by LiveScience . The state's power plants pumped out 44.5 million pounds of chemicals in 2009, or 12% of all US industrial air pollution. Overall, US power... More »

Burning Coal Slowed Climate Change: Study

Sulfur pollution masked effect of CO2 emissions

(Newser) - The vast amounts of coal China burned during the 2000s may have actually slowed down climate change, according to a new study. Researchers believe the sulfur pollution caused by burning coal deflected the sun's rays, causing a temporary plateau in warming, the AP reports. But while sulfur drops out... More »

Greenpeace: 3 China Firms Emit More Carbon Than All of UK

(Newser) - China's inefficient power plants and heavy reliance on coal are dragging down global efforts to curb climate change, a Greenpeace report warned yesterday. The report found that major Chinese power companies are responsible for a huge amount of the country's coal use and emissions, with the top three producers alone... More »

Climate 'Urgency' Takes a Backseat to Progress: Will

(Newser) - At their recent summit, the G8 nations vowed to cut emissions 80% ... within 41 years. That seems like a pretty lethargic response to a so-called “emergency,” but as Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi said, the effort is virtually futile while “5 billion people continue to behave as they... More »

Utilities Poison Water to Meet EPA Air Regs

(Newser) - A federal law that keeps utilities from poisoning the air is causing toxic metals to infiltrate US waterways, the Washington Post reports. As the Environmental Protection Agency debates possible solutions with lawmakers, utility companies are storing pollutants like mercury and selenium in sludge ponds that eventually leak into lakes and... More »

Clean Coal Myth Proves Industry Is Declining

(Newser) - Clean coal is a myth, and the companies selling it “have their heads stuck in the mine,” Thomas Kostigen writes on MarketWatch. Although Americans generate close to 50% of their energy from coal, the technology is so yesterday—and the industry is not poised to move forward. It... More »

Carbon Dioxide Gets Buried in Midwest Experiment

Site in Illinois may be able to hold 100 billion tons of CO2

(Newser) - Construction began this week on an Energy Department project that aims to bury a million metric tons of carbon dioxide beneath Illinois' surface by 2012, Wired reports. While that's peanuts compared to the billions of tons emitted each year, the project—the largest such injection to date—could pave the... More »

Court Reinstates Bush Clean Air Rule

Federal judges reverse position on clean air rule, giving Obama time to replace it

(Newser) - A federal appeals court has decided that a flawed clean air law is better than no clean air law, the New York Times reports. Reversing an earlier judgment, the court ruled to temporarily reinstate the Clean Air Interstate Rule—which limits emissions from coal-fired power plants in 28 states—while... More »

River of Sludge Wipes Out Tenn. Homes

Hundreds of acres look like a moonscape after coal plant's pond collapses

(Newser) - A 500 million gallon spill of potentially toxic goop escaped from a Tennessee power plant to destroy the landscape, wreck 15 homes and contaminate local rivers, reports CNN. The sludgy residue of coal burning busted through the walls of a containing pond. Up to 400 acres have been coated in... More »

Green Groups Come Down on 'Clean Coal'

Gore calls the technology 'illusions of the industry'

(Newser) - A new advertising campaign backed by environmental organizations, including one supported by Al Gore, is calling into question the efficacy of “clean coal technology,” the Washington Post reports. “Clean coal” was a buzzword during this year’s election, but environmentalists think it’s an oxymoron. “We... More »

Palin: Chronicle Suppressed Obama Coal Interview

Paper: It's been online since January

(Newser) - Sarah Palin apparently believes the San Francisco Chronicle suppressed a January interview with Barack Obama, in which he threatens to bankrupt the coal industry. “You gotta listen to the tape,” Palin told an Ohio crowd yesterday. “Why is this audio tape just now surfacing? This interview was... More »

Green Vandals Acquitted on Climate Change Defense

Global crisis justifies coal-plant attack: jury

(Newser) - Six Greenpeace activists who vandalized a coal-fired power station in Britain have won acquittal using the threat of global warming as a defense, reports the Guardian. The activists, who caused more than $50,000 in damage to a smokestack, said they were trying to prevent property damage from the plant’... More »

China's Power Pollution to Pass US

CO2 emissions will double over next 12 years, think tank predicts

(Newser) - Carbon emissions from China's mostly coal-fired electric power industry will exceed those of the US this year for the first time, the Washington Post reports. China's runaway economic growth means its power industry's carbon emissions will double by 2020, predicts the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based think tank. Power... More »

China's Wind Power Takes Off

Could compete with coal by 2015

(Newser) - Although known for its monstrous appetite for coal, China has spent the last few years ramping up its wind-power capacity, the Guardian reports. The amount of wind power generated has grown over 100% a year since 2005, with enormous wind farms popping up across the country. "It is huge,... More »

'Clean Coal' Advocates Blowing Smoke

Investing in carbon sequestration "reckless"

(Newser) - “Clean coal” is the buzzword of the moment, with industry groups and presidential candidates swearing by a work-in-progress technique known as carbon capture and storage (CCS), which ultimately buries carbon dioxide emissions deep underground. But Jeff Goodell, writing in Yale Environment 360, doesn’t buy it. “We don’... More »

Lithuania's Negative Energy Bad for Europe

Foot-dragging on nuke plant could force ugly bargain with Russia

(Newser) - Lithuanians "should be furious" with politicians who have backed the Baltic nation into a "potentially appalling" crisis of energy and policy, the Economist notes. As condition for its admission to the European Union, Lithuania promised to shutter its Ignalina nuclear power plant by 2009—and pols have made... More »

High Costs Put Clean Coal on Back Burner

Plans to scrub coal-plant emissions hit money wall

(Newser) - Ambitious plans to combat global warming by pumping carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants into the ground have been delayed or canned due to spiraling costs, the New York Times reports. Scientists now fear that the next generation of coal-burning plants will be built using old, emission-spewing technology, spelling disaster... More »

China Has Only 12 Days Left of Coal

In some areas, the reserves are down to less than a week

(Newser) - China only has coal reserves left for about 12 days, and in some regions only about a week's supply is left, Australia's News Network reports. The demand for coal—the most important energy source in the country—has skyrocketed, with huge numbers of new power plants being built in the... More »

National Park, Meet Coal Smog

Over own experts' objections, EPA moves to allow power plants closer to rec areas

(Newser) - The Environmental Protection Agency is set to change its rules to allow the construction of coal power plants in previously off-limits areas near national parks, the Christian Science Monitor reports. A draft revision to the Clean Air Act would soften standards of pollution in “Class 1” areas (ie, national... More »

Activists Fight Coal, Plant by Plant

Environmental coalition claims to have killed 65 new facilities

(Newser) - Environmentalists are taking aim at new, high-pollution coal-fired power plants, the Los Angeles Times reports. Whenever a new plant is proposed, lawyers from a coalition of organizations work on killing it any way that they can. "We hope to clog up the system," one said. "It's putting... More »

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