EPA To Limit Power Plant C02 Emissions - TDC Power Plant In Newark Set For 2,000 Tons Per Day Release

OBAMA SAYS "NO" TO THE FOSSIL FOOLS — Coal-fired power plants, used to generate some 40% of America's electricity, are the target of President Obama's proposal today which will require these plants to install new technology to capture carbon dioxide and bury it under ground. This infuriates the industry and Republicans, or course, who continue to serve as prostitutes to the Fossil Fuel industry and to deny global warming. Obama is attempting to keep his campaign promise to clean up America's growing air pollution problem, thereby combating climate change. A Supreme Court decision in 2007 ruled that the 1970 Clean Air Act can be applied to heat-trapping pollution. The president is merely enforcing, via the EPA, the Clean Air Act (introduced, incidentally by President Nixon). One can tell the efficacy of Obama's plan by the number of industry spokespersons and Republicans it enrages, which, it seems, is considerable. But this has to be done. We MUST change the way we're generating energy if we are to survive. Screw the Fossil Fools and their enablers in Congress. We the people must support the president in his efforts and call down those who want to ride the Old Paradigm over the cliff's edge taking all of us with them. Cleaner energy now! Renewable energy now! It is the only way. Thank you Mr. President.

And (USA Today) Wendy Koch reports ~ EPA proposes strict limits from new power plants

The EPA announced Friday its proposal to cap the amount of heat-trap­ping greenhouse gas emis­sions from new power plants. Coal-fired plants — unlike most natural gas fa­cilities — won’t meet the standard without costly technology to capture and store carbon emissions.

There’s the rub. No commercial, coal-fired plant worldwide has yet to use this technology, but at least two are now under construction — one in Can­ada’s Saskatchewan Prov­ince, and the other in Mis­sissippi’s Kemper County, which is scheduled to open in May. Three other U.S. coal plants are planned, two in Texas and one in Illi­nois. EPA Administrator Gi­na McCarthy said Ameri­cans have a “moral obliga­tion to the next genera­tion” to protect the envi­ronment, and its proposal, updated from an initial one last year, is a “necessary step to address a public health challenge.” Critics, including the coal industry, say it’s not legal to require a technol­ogy that’s not yet proved it­self commercially. Jeffrey Holmstead, who was a senior EPA offi­cial under President George W. Bush, said the technology “has not been adequately demonstrat­ed.” Holmstead is a lawyer who now represents coal­fired plants.

The EPA’s proposal, which addresses only new power plants, is a dress re­hearsal for a much larger one next year that will lim­it emissions from existing power plants. President Barack Obama has di­rected the agency to pro­pose a standard for exist­ing plants by June and fi­nalize it in 2015. For new coal-fired plants, the EPA proposal caps emissions at 1,100 pounds of carbon-dioxide per megawatt-hour of power produced. A typi­cal new plant, without CCS technology, emits about 1,800 pounds. “The industry wants to be able to blame EPA” for its economic trou­bles, says David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an envi­ronmental group. But he says low prices for natu­ral gas, even wind, are bigger factors in coal’s current and future prospects than EPA’s proposed rule.

Meanwhile, the Delaware House of Representatives' Republican Caucus sent this along ~

 Delaware to Adopt California's Vehicle Emissions Regulations

Delaware environmental regulators want to adopt California's Low Emission Vehicle III standard and the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) standard, also known as the Advanced Clean Cars Program. 

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) is holding a public hearing on the pending regulatory changes on Monday (9/23) at 6 p.m. at DNREC's Richardson & Robbins Building Auditorium in Dover.

"Although significant progress has been made in addressing air pollution in Delaware, continued reductions of criteria pollutant emissions are needed to ensure and maintain federal ambient air quality standards," DNREC officials wrote in the public hearing notice.  "Significant reductions in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are needed to address the growing threat of climate change in Delaware."

Update: Carbon emissions from new natural gas-fired power plants aren't expected to be high enough to come under the new rules: (AP) Jonathan Fahey reports ~ Pollution rule hurts coal, but helps other sources

The rule requires new coal plants to be built with expensive equip­ment to reduce carbon di­oxide emissions.........plants powered by natural gas will look like a bargain. Here’s how the land­scape could change.

Winners

» Natural gas. Most new natural-gas-fired power plants will stay within the rule’s emis­sions limits without re­quiring new equipment.

» Renewable energy. Wind and solar develop­ers, such as NextEra En­ergy and FirstSolar, may see increased demand for large projects, especially if power prices rise.

» Nuclear power. If prices rise, nuclear oper­ators such as Exelon and Entergy will benefit.

» Power generators. If electricity prices rise as coal use declines, com­panies that sell wholesale electric power may bene­fit.

Losers

» Coal miners. The U.S. coal industry is al­ready struggling because coal supplies piled up and prices dropped as natural gas gained favor.

» Electric customers. Natural-gas prices gener­ally dictate the price of all electricity in the U.S. If demand for natural gas rises faster than the sup­ply of it, the price will rise and drag power prices up.

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