And #47's attacks on #immigration, #academia and #RenewableEnergy technology, while subsidizing late 19th century technology like #CoalPlants, certainly do not send a good message to companies that might want to do the investment.

I worked in the semiconductor industry 25 years ago - and saw first hand how important the contributions of #immigrants were to successful projects, how our #universities were instrumental in providing a knowledgeable and creative workforce, and the amazing ideas coming from the #supplychain for new materials and processes. I also saw how important it was to phase in new technologies, enabling us to make better, more complex products at lower cost.

Doubling down on #Coal & #Fossil Fuels does not reduce energy costs, as UK industry knows: (UK) "Energy costs are likely to remain significantly higher than in Germany and France, chiefly because UK electricity prices are linked to the cost of wholesale gas, which is a larger part of the British energy mix than on the continent."

Coal plants are in the US news.

We have resources to put that news in context for you and your learning community. 👇 1/2

#Coal #CoalPlants #ClimateChange #PublicHeatlh #USPol #USNews

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/20/trump-michigan-coal-power-plants

🇺🇸 US
🔴 Big Tech fuels revival of old coal plant sites

🔸 Soaring AI & cloud power needs turn shuttered coal sites into valuable energy hubs.
🔸 Trump uses emergency powers to delay coal retirements, boost U.S. "energy dominance."
🔸 Projects include gas, solar, battery storage — and future nuclear reactors.
🔸 Redevelopment brings new hope to towns hit hard by coal decline.

#Energy #BigTech #CoalPlants #AI #Trump #Nuclear #NaturalGas #ClimateChange

Oh. Too expensive, eh? Maybe all that money we're saving from #DOGE could go towards installing scrubbers or replacing them! (JK! #DOGESucks! #TaxTheRich!)

More Than 60 Power Plants Exempted From Federal #MercuryLimits

More stringent rules were scheduled to be enforced in 2027. Selected plants will now have two more years to comply.

By Dan Gearino
April 16, 2025

"Included in the #Trump administration’s order last week to boost the #coal industry was a two-year exemption to a rule that would have forced some of the nation’s most polluting power plants to reduce emissions of mercury and other air toxics.

"The ramifications of this exemption are beginning to sink in for people across the country who saw the mercury rule, updated and enhanced last year by the Biden administration, as a crucial part of reducing the harm of these power plants.

"The Environmental Protection Agency [#EPA] published a list of 47 plant owners and more than 60 plants that now have additional time to meet mercury and air toxics standards (MATS) that were set to become more stringent in 2027.

"The actions are part of a broader agenda in which the Trump administration aims to use executive orders to cut environmental regulations and increase electricity generation, mainly from #FossilFuels.

" 'The Trump administration has created an illegal special exemption by which polluters can go to the president and request a ‘get out of jail free’ card when it comes to the Clean Air Act,' said Howard Learner, CEO and executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center, a Chicago-based advocacy group that works throughout the Midwest. 'That’s legally irresponsible; it’s bad policy, and it will really harm people as a result of more pollution.'

"The exempted plants are in 23 states and include some of the country’s leading #polluters, such as the #JamesHMillerPlant in #Alabama, owned by Southern Co., and the #LabadiePlant in #Missouri, owned by #AmerenCorp.

"Many of the plants are old, such as the #TennesseeValleyAuthority’s #ShawneePlant in #Kentucky, whose oldest generating unit began operating in 1953.

"A few are relatively new, such as the #DryForkStation in #Wyoming, which opened in 2011 and is owned by #BasinElectric Power Cooperative.

"The list consists mostly of #CoalPlants, but also includes a few properties that burn #gas or #petroleum."

Read more:
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16042025/power-plants-exempted-from-federal-mercury-limits/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/uocBf

#BadDOGE #AirIsLife #MercuryPoisoning
#ToxicAir #WaterIsLife #DirtyCoal #CoalMining #USPol #Pollution

#Arizona’s #ApacheGeneratingStation is one of 66 #CoalPlants to get #EPA exemption from Biden-era #toxic #AirPollution caps

Sammy Travis / Cronkite News
April 21, 2025

"WASHINGTON — The Apache Generating Station, one of the last remaining power plants in Arizona that use coal, is among 66 power plants nationwide granted exemptions by the Trump administration from updated standards on mercury, arsenic, lead and other toxic pollutants.

Environmentalists worry that allowing plants to avoid compliance with the new standards could harm air quality, public health and the environment.

Power companies have been phasing out coal plants in Arizona for years. The last is targeted for closure in 2032, when federal rules kick in that require 90% capture of carbon emissions.

But Arizona’s intense summer heat puts a strain on the supply of electricity, and power companies have long turned to older, dirtier technology when demand peaks.

At issue are Environmental Protection Agency standards known as the MATS rule, part of the Clean Air Act, which President Richard Nixon signed in 1970. Congress updated it in 1977 and 1990.

The Apache Generating Station’s waiver allows its owner and operator, Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, to comply with the 2012 version of the federal standards rather than stricter caps issued by the EPA in April 2024.

The MATS rule was originally aimed at coal-burning plants. The EPA has expanded it to apply to natural gas; Apache, a 408-megawatt plant about 80 miles east of Tucson, uses both.

Natural gas generates far less toxic material and particulate matter than coal. But it does create carbon dioxide, and the Biden administration also issued rules aimed at curbing those greenhouse emissions.

[Next section talks about how UPGRADES ARE EXPENSIVE! THEN HAVE BILLIONAIRES PAY FOR THEM! OR REPLACEMENT ENERGY SOURCES!]

"President Donald Trump signed an order shortly after taking office that rolled back Biden-era EPA regulations. In April, he signed multiple executive orders promoting coal.

"His cost-cutting effort, led by billionaire Elon Musk, has also aggressively curtailed the EPA’s staff and mission."

Read more:
https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2025/04/21/arizona-coal-plant-epa-exemption-new-toxic-air-pollution-cap/

#BadDOGE #AirIsLife #MercuryPoisoning #ToxicAir #WaterIsLife #DirtyCoal #CoalMining #USPol

Wäre es nicht so schlimm, man könnte drüber lachen. Trump erzählt Bullshit über die deutsche Energieversorgung. Natürlich eröffnen wir NICHT jede Woche ein neues Kohlekraftwerk.

Die große Frage ist: warum widerspricht ihm niemand vehement?

#trump #trumpregime #usa #coalplants

"Selling carbon offsets is deeply misguided. Offsets are unlikely to generate funds at the scale needed, and any offset transactions would negate the climate benefits from shutting down coal plants"

#ReclaimFinance: https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2024/11/12/coal-transition-commission-disappoints-with-misguided-promotion-of-offsets/

#credits #abatments #coal #CTC #COP29 #emissions #transition #energyTransition #offsets #energy #carbonOffsets #plants #coalPlants #carbon #GHG

The #NavajoNation has been exploited by ‘others’ since its inception. Generating #Electricity by burning #coal made vast fortunes for ‘others’ but not the #NavajoPeople themselves. The same can be said about #Uranium and #Lithium mining. The #BrownfieldSites left behind by the defunct #CoalPlants present an opportunity to be aggregation points for vast #Wind & #solar farms which they could own & operate. What a New Mexico coal power plant demo means for Navajo Nation

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/05/nx-s1-5076973/coal-power-plant-demolition-navajo-new-mexico

Monumental New Mexico #coal plants are on the way out, to be replaced by #solar and other #energy sources. The plants have been the source of #jobs and #economic security over many decades for the #Navajo - but also significant #pollution.

https://www.npr.org/2024/10/05/nx-s1-5076973/coal-power-plant-demolition-navajo-new-mexico

#renewableenergy #coalplants #NewMexico #airpollution

#Wisconsin utilities propose nearly $2B in #RenewableEnergy projects
"All three utilities plan to eliminate #coal from their power mix by the end of 2032.

Utilities say renewable projects will also help reduce costs in the face of new regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency that require #CoalPlants to reduce 90 percent of their emissions by 2039."

https://www.wpr.org/energy/wisconsin-utilities-propose-billions-renewable-energy-projects

Shows the power of government regulation.

Some "decommissioned #CoalPlants — sites that still sit in the center of webs of power lines could onboard future clean power onto the grid while avoiding the roadblocks around permitting new transmission corridors.

The Geomap researchers found that many of the West’s sites — #greenhouses, #meatpacking facilities, chemical plants and #DataCenters — sit atop heat that could be tapped directly, without needing to generate electricity, which is a cheaper proposition."

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4703057-geothermal-energy-potential-beneath-western-eastern-us-map/

Driven by #China, #Coal Plants Made a Comeback in #2023
China alone accounted for two-thirds of the world’s newly operating #coalplants last year. Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and South Korea also inaugurated new plants, which typically operate for two to three decades.
Elsewhere, retirements of older plants have slowed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/10/climate/coal-plants-china.html
https://archive.ph/N7izl
#climate #climatechange #climatecrisis #greenhousegas

"#EPA plans to finalize the first set of standards — targeting existing #CoalPlants and gas plants built to replace them — in April.

The agency was running out of time to finalize a rule to cover existing plants while ensuring it would stand up to legal challenges.

The agency [is] planning a separate effort targeting existing gas plants.
But the move carries risk because the new mandates are unlikely to be in place until after the presidential election. "

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-29/biden-epa-narrows-power-plant-rule-with-plan-for-later-curbs-on-us-gas-fleet

The world is facing a “pivotal moment” in the #ClimateCrisis, #KamalaHarris has told the #Cop28 summit after the #US vowed to phase out #CoalPlants and slash #methane emissions, but also came under attack for meagre assistance to developing countries and for its own booming #oil and #gas extraction industry.

Kamala Harris addresses Cop28 amid mixed reaction to US #ClimatePledges | #GlobalWarming | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/02/kamala-harris-addresses-cop28-amid-mixed-reaction-to-us-climate-pledges

#US #CoalPlants Killed 460,000 People Between 1999 and 2020

https://www.commondreams.org/news/coal-plant-deaths

It’s #EarthDay tomorrow

There’s a #ClimateCrisis. It’s still to avoid the worst consequences, but the world is on the brink of #catastrophic #warming.

The #BidenAdmin is making headway on #ClimateChange goals, but a #Republican controlled #House is a problem.

In the last mo, #Biden pledged $500M to fight Amazon #deforestation, & acted on #AutoEmissions, #CoalPlants, & #ProtectedLand in AK, NV & TX:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/20/climate-change-ipcc-report-15/