Free Republic

On Wednesday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry stated that hitting climate goals will cost between 2.5 to 5 trillion dollars annually “for the next 30 years” and that he believes China might not actually use the new coal plants they’re building because “That’s what they say to us. And that’s what begins to be a possibility as we look at the massive amount of renewable that’s being deployed.” Co-host Ari Shapiro asked, [relevant exchange begins around 3:10] “China is building more coal-fired power plants and the U.S.[‘s] emissions are not falling fast...

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said he thinks coal plants should not be “permitted anywhere in the world.” During a speech at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Kerry said he is becoming “more and more” militant about climate policy because people are avoiding responsibility. “We don’t need that necessarily to tell us we ought to be transitioning out of coal,” Kerry said about the pollution from coal plants. “There shouldn’t be any more coal power plants permitted anywhere in the world.” “That’s how you can do something for health,” he added. “And the reality is that we’re not...

At #COP28 , I joined President @EmmanuelMacron & other leaders to proudly announce the United States is joining the Powering Past Coal Alliance. We will work with partners around the world to phase out unabated coal, an absolutely essential step for keeping 1.5 C within reach.

Europe and the U.S. have been arguing that wealthier emerging economies such as China and Saudi Arabia should also give money to the fund. Hoekstra said that what is true for the European Union and North America should be true for any country in a position of economic and geopolitical strength. “And that means driving down emissions and doing your fair share in covering the bill for those who cannot,” he said. Given the magnitude of the problem, “every single country with the ability to pay and the ability to contribute should contribute,” he said. A statement issued by China’s...

PJM Interconnection sounds the latest alarm that fossil-fuel plants are shutting down without adequate replacement power. The political class yawns. ... The warnings keep coming that the force-fed energy transition to renewable fuels is destabilizing the U.S. electric grid, but is anyone in government paying attention? ... The PJM report forecasts power supply and demand through 2030 across the 13 eastern states in its territory covering 65 million people. ... Fossil-fuel power plants are retiring much faster than renewable sources are getting developed, which could lead to energy “imbalances.” That’s a delicate way of saying that you can expect shortages...

As temperatures in the UK plummet, National Grid, the transmission system operator, asked two contingency coal-fired power plants to be ready to send more electricity to the grid on Monday if needed. "We've issued a notification to warm two winter contingency coal units. This measure should give the public confidence in Monday's energy supply," National Grid said today, as temperatures dropped and snow fell in London, creating traffic chaos. ... With low temperatures and low wind speeds, wind generated just 7.6% of Britain's electricity on Saturday, National Grid ESO said on Sunday. Natural gas generated 62.0% of electricity, more than...

Biden just went to California and announced he will shut down coal plants all across AmericaYou hear that, PA? https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1588638393344352256

Germany plans to postpone the closure of the country’s last three nuclear power plants as it braces for a possible shortage of energy this winter after Russia throttled gas supplies to the country, said German government officials. Mr. Scholz hinted at the decision last week, saying for the first time that it could make sense to keep Germany’s last three nuclear reactors online. Mothballed coal plants have already been brought back online to prevent energy blackouts after Russia slashed gas supplies in June, a decision that will complicate Berlin’s plans to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and reduce air pollution.

The Hawaiian islands’ coal shipments are ending. The bulker carrying the state’s final coal shipment will leave this week after refueling the state’s last coal-fired power plant. That plant is scheduled to close in September forcing the state’s energy providers to compete with the US Navy for oil tankers. AES Hawaii, operator of the largest power plant on Oahu, received 15,000 tons of Indonesian coal from the Liberian flag bulker MV Flying Tiger. The 180-megawatt plant is the biggest source of the island’s electricity and provided 13% of the state’s overall power in 2018.

Dozens of coal-fired power plants across the U.S. plan to stop burning coal or to shut down by the end of the decade, the Associated Press reported. The decision is not driven by climate change concerns but to comply with a new wastewater rule requiring them to clean coal ash and toxic heavy metals from the water before it's dumped back into streams and rivers. The plants had an October deadline to tell state regulators how they plan to comply. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the rule is expected to affect 75 coal-fired power plants across the country. The...

After Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine on Thursday, the EU announced an initial raft of sanctions against Russia with more expected to follow. The instability and sanctions are expected to have a wide-ranging impact on gas supplies and prices in Europe, particularly in Germany and Italy, the two European countries most reliant on gas exports from Russia. Addressing Italy’s parliament on Friday, Draghi laid out plans to offset price increases and turn to alternative sources of energy. “The sanctions require us to carefully consider the impact on our economy,” he said. “The biggest concern is in the...

To no thinking person’s surprise, China’s President Xi Jinping told Communist Party leaders that saving the planet from global warming won’t come at the expense of China’s economic growth or the comfort of its people. Greens had been pointing to China’s efforts at cutting carbon emissions as an example other nations should follow. As it turns out, President Xi knows that cutting emissions will cut growth—something Xi is not willing to do. Democratic politicians continue to babble about “sustainable growth” and “carbon neutral industries.” Xi knows the truth and won’t allow China to play games with its economic future just...

Colorado regulators will kick off a series of hearings Wednesday that could determine how the state’s largest utility generates its energy in the coming decades — and how much it will contribute to global warming. Xcel Energy, which supplies electricity to 1.5 million people across Colorado, announced plans to phase out its remaining coal plants earlier this year and instead rely more on natural gas, renewable energy, and emerging technology such as hydrogen power. The utility’s plans came as the state, pushed by activists and environmental groups, set a goal to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by half of its...

Most people seem to believe that wind and solar panels produce no waste and have no negative environmental impacts. Unfortunately, these people are wrong. In reality, everything that humans do has an environmental impact, whether it be mining, using a coal-fired power plant, or even tourism. When it comes to energy and environmental policy, the real question to ask is not “will there be an impact?” but rather, “can the impacts be minimized?” ... Because everything has an effect on the environment, it is important that everyone understands the impacts of all energy sources so we can make the best...

President Trump derided rival billionaire Tom Steyer as a "wacky" and "crazed & stumbling lunatic" on Sunday, after Steyer -- who was one of the prominent liberals to receive a threatening suspicious package last week -- said he "absolutely was blaming" Trump for creating an atmosphere in which "anything can bubble up, and anything is bubbling up." Steyer fired back quickly, writing that Trump's comment was "unthinkable ... in the midst of the horrible political violence." The Twitter conflagration erupted after Steyer's wide-ranging interview with CNN's "State of the Union," in which the hedge fund manager called Trump "corrupt," and...

It's coal people like miner Steve Knotts, 62, who make West Virginia Trump Country. So it was no surprise that President Donald Trump picked the state to announce his plan rolling back Obama-era pollution controls on coal-fired power plants. Trump left one thing out of his remarks, though: northern West Virginia coal country will be ground zero for increased deaths and illnesses from the rollback on regulation of harmful emission from the nation's coal power plants. An analysis done by his own Environmental Protection Agency concludes that the plan would lead to a greater number of people here dying prematurely,...

The Environmental Protection Agency says it plans to scrap an Obama-era measure limiting water pollution from coal-fired power plants. A letter from EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt released Monday as part of a legal appeal said he will seek to revise the 2015 guidelines mandating increased treatment for wastewater from steam electric power-generating plants. Acting at the behest of electric utilities who opposed the stricter standards, Pruitt first moved in April to delay implementation of the new guidelines. The wastewater flushed from the coal-fired plants into rivers and lakes typically contains traces of such highly toxic heavy metals as lead, arsenic,...

Ontario’s hell-bent determination to phase out coal-fired generation raised electricity rates without significantly improving air pollution levels, a new Fraser Institute report says. Ontario’s hell-bent determination to phase out coal-fired generation raised electricity rates without significantly improving air pollution levels, a new Fraser Institute report says. Report co-author Ross McKitrick, an economics professor at the University of Guelph, said the findings should act as a cautionary tale for Alberta and Ottawa currently going down the same road. Even though there was reliable information available at the time that showed Ontario coal was not a big player in common air pollution...

A lawsuit brought by environmentalists and federal regulators has forced a major utility to phase out coal use at six power plants in Iowa. Activists claim these retirements bring the total number of U.S. coal plants shut down to 200 — or 40 percent of the U.S. coal plant fleet. On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department of Justice announced an Iowa subsidiary of Alliant Energy agreed to pay $7.1 million in civil penalties to environmental projects for violating the Clean Air Act. The settlement also requires the company to stop burning coal or shut down six power...

European makers of equipment for coal-fired power plants should receive financial help to export it, an EU discussion paper seen by Reuters says, in a clash with the bloc’s declared aim to lead the global fight against climate change. Coal is the most polluting fossil fuel, emitting around twice as much carbon dioxide as natural gas when used to generate power. As a result, the European Union is phasing out subsidies for domestic coal plants by 2018 and the European Investment Bank has set an emissions limit for the energy for which it provides preferential loans, meaning coal is excluded....