Free Republic

EPA proposes greenhouse gas rule for new coal-based power plants On March 27, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed its New Source Performance Standard (NSPS), a long-delayed proposed regulation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from coal-based power plants. The new rule requires coal-based generating sources to emit no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour, which is a level met by natural gas-combined cycle power plants. Conventional lignite-based plants produce more than twice that amount. The proposed rule, which goes into immediate effect, means any new lignite-based plants would be required to install technology to capture...

Ten labor unions representing 300,000 civilian employees of the U.S. Department of Defense filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, saying Rumsfeld's department violated the law by refusing to negotiate changes in its labor-management system. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, comes after months of protests by the unions over proposals for a new National Security Personnel System, which Congress authorized for development in November 2003. The unions say the system, which seeks flexibility in hiring and assigning workers for security reasons, is using threats to security as a way to diminish the...