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Net
Right Daily
The
heat is on coal electric plants
from EPA
By Robert Romano
As
the summer heat wave rolls on,
electric utilities in localities across the country are asking
customers to
curb usage to avert brownouts.
With
a growing population in the
21st Century, increased demand for electricity is a certainty,
particularly in
the summer months.
That
means more power plants will
be needed here in the future.
Instead,
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) regulations are threatening to shut down about 285
coal-fired
power plants, says a recent analysis from an industry group.
“Regrettably,
the number of coal
units being forced to close continues to grow,” said Mike Duncan,
president and
CEO of American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). “Yet, EPA
continues to downplay the damage its regulations are causing to the
U.S.
economy and to the many states that depend on coal for jobs and
affordable
electricity.”
According
to the ACCCE analysis,
the hardest hit states are Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, West Virginia,
Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Indiana. Nationwide, the number
of
actual plant closures is five times greater than EPA predicted would
occur
because of its regulations.
“Our
country badly needs realistic
energy and environmental policies that recognize the important role
coal plays
by providing affordable and reliable electricity. I hope the next
Administrator
will bring some balance to EPA’s regulations, but we’ll have to wait
and see,”
said Duncan.
Yet
Gina McCarthy — slated to be
the next EPA administrator, replacing Lisa Jackson — is no friend of
coal. Nor
will she do anything about rolling the agency’s carbon endangerment
finding,
which ruled that carbon dioxide, a biological gas necessary for the
very
existence of life, is a “harmful pollutant” under the terms of the
Clean Air
Act.
Nor
will she repeal the EPA’s
regional haze rule, carbon restrictions on new and existing power
plants, and
the “National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants” that
restricts
mercury emissions from plants.
Sue-and-settle
arrangements the
agency enters with organizations will similarly continue. This is where
a group
sues demanding that the EPA enforce the law in a new, expanded way and
the
agency enters into a consent decree with the party, which is signed by
a judge.
This leaves the agency with new powers under the Clean Air and Water
Acts.
And
it’s only getting worse.
With
all due respect to ACCCE, the
problem will not be solved by the next EPA administrator somehow
“bring[ing]
some balance to EPA’s regulations.”
Nor
will “wait and see” prove to be
an effective strategy for an industry whose very survival is
threatened. The
damage is already being done.
Read
the rest of the article at Net Right Daily
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