Coal Industry

Coal Railroad

Mountain Coal States vs. West Coast Cities

A legal battle is being waged between the coal-exporting states of Utah, Wyoming, and Montana and coastal cities in California, Oregon, and Washington that pits the power of local land-use authority against the protection of interstate commerce.

March 16, 2020 - Los Angeles Times

North Carolina Coast

Southern States Lagging in Addressing Climate Change

Cities in the South are facing a multitude of climate change impacts, but many have been slow to respond to the growing threats.

February 6, 2020 - The State

New mexico Power

Decline in Coal-Fired Power Reduces U.S. Carbon Emissions in 2019

The energy sector produced ten percent less carbon emissions in 2019 than the previous year—the largest drop in decades. Still, the decline of the coal industry is not enough to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Accord.

January 7, 2020 - Inside Climate News

Power Plant

It's Official: Obama's Clean Power Plan Has Been Replaced by the Trump Administration

It took less than a year for the EPA to finalize the Affordable Clean Energy rule, which will allow older coal-burning plants to continue operating, in the Trump administration's most consequential environmental rollback accomplished to date.

June 21, 2019 - The New York Times

Coal-Fired Power Plant

Regulators Scold Utility for Proposing Natural Gas to Replace Coal

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is concerned about the lack of renewable options for replacing a coal plant in Wabash County.

May 3, 2019 - The Evansville Courier & Press

Coal-Fired Power Plant

Investigation Reveals the Failures of 'Clean Coal'

As the federal government sends massive subsidies to encourage so-called clean coal technology, coal-burning power plants aren't sending less pollution into the air and into the earth.

December 5, 2018 - Reuters

Global Climate Action Summit

Art to Inspire Climate Action

The Coal+Ice exhibition was on view in San Francisco in September 2018, timed to leverage Governor Jerry Brown’s Global Climate Action Summit.

September 30, 2018 - James Brasuell

The Far-Reaching Consequences of Remaking the Mercury Emissions Rule

The EPA intends to review the rulemaking process behind the mercury rule, the subject of a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2015, to place more value on a rule's compliance cost to industry and less to its beneficial impact on human health.

September 9, 2018 - The New York Times

Coal Ash Waste

Making Older Coal Power Plants More Efficient Without Making Them Cleaner

At the center of the EPA's newly proposed Affordable Clean Energy rule is doing away with a permitting process known as New Source Review that requires coal power plants to add scrubbers and other expensive pollution control equipment when upgraded.

August 27, 2018 - The New York Times

Utility-Scale Solar

'Affordable Clean Energy Rule' Proposed to Replace Clean Power Plan

On Tuesday, EPA released its new rule to regulate emissions from existing power plants, essentially leaving it to the states to determine appropriate emissions levels rather than setting actual standards each state has to meet like the current rule.

August 22, 2018 - The New York Times

Coal Extraction

New Evidence of Coal's Evolving Place in the Economy

Contura Energy paid Blackjewel Inc. $21 million to take ownership of the Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr coal mines in Wyoming.

April 14, 2018 - Casper Star-Tribune

Rooftop Solar

It's Rural vs. Urban in Kentucky's Anti-Solar Energy Bill

A bill that would cut back on the feed-in tariffs paid by utilities to solar panel owners in Kentucky.

February 10, 2018 - Louisville Courier Journal

California Big Sur

California Counties, City Sue Fossil Fuel Industry Over Sea Level Rise

Faced with "mounting costs" due to the impacts of climate change, a collection of coastal communities in California have taken legal action against the fossil fuel industry.

July 23, 2017 - Associated Press via KPCC

Gas Pump

What if Oil Is About to Have a Coal Moment?

It's always good to be wary of wishful thinking, but it's also a good idea to consider of what the world might look like ten to 20 years from now.

February 17, 2017 - Treehugger

Climate Change Removed from White House Website

Well, that didn't take long! Goodbye Obama Clean Action Plan and restrictive environmental regulations; hello shale oil and gas revolution.

January 22, 2017 - Planetizen

Coal Ash Waste

Coal Plants Are Closing—There's Not Much Trump's EPA Can Do About It

Natural gas and renewable sources of energy are quickly replacing coal-fired power plants in the nation's energy portfolio. Economics, not regulations is determining what gets built, and what gets burned.

January 3, 2017 - Brookings Institution

Coal Mine

Coal's Future Still Unclear, Despite Trump's Campaigns Promises

It's only taken a week for the coal industry to get swept under the rug, to an extent, by Republican leadership in Washington, D.C.—not to mention their energy market competitors.

November 14, 2016 - CleanTechnica

Donald Trump

Trump Announces 'America First' Energy Plan

The Trump Campaign made a big play for the carbon industry's votes this week at an event in Pittsburgh.

September 23, 2016 - The Wall Street Journal

Coal Railroad

Feds Finally Kill $400 Million Tongue River Coal Railroad Proposal

The unraveling of the coal industry, as exemplified by the demise of Arch Coal, was on display again as federal regulators put the final nail in the coffin of a proposed coal railroad.

April 27, 2016 - Billings Gazette

Coming to Grips With Post-Coal Reality in Wyoming

The state of Wyoming made billions in tax revenues off the coal industry. But after waves of layoffs, those left in the state are asking: What's left of those revenues for workers?

April 11, 2016 - WyoFile

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