27May

Study: EPA Plan Will Further Hurt Coal

Via The Lexington Herald-Leader: WASHINGTON — A new government analysis of President Barack Obama’s signature effort to fight climate change affirms what critics suspected: the proposal could further weaken an already battered coal industry. Electricity generation from the carbon-intensive fossil fuel would fall by 90 gigawatts, more than twice the decline government analysts had predicted […]
26May

Proposed Regs Rile Power Companies

Via The Daily Tribune: This summer, the Environmental Protection Agency is due to issue final rules on its Clean Power Plan and carbon pollution standards for new, modified and reconstructed power plants. The plan has sparked protests from AEP/SWEPCO and other utility companies from across the country, who contend that the EPA is operating in […]
25May

Proposed EPA Carbon Rules Will Mean Higher Bills and Fewer Coal Plants, New Report Says

Via The Wall Street Journal: A new report released Friday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration is reinvigorating a common debate in Washington over how to calculate projected economic impacts of regulations. The report, written at the request of House Science and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith (R., Texas), concludes that a proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule cutting carbon emissions from power […]
24May

Coal Plant Shutdowns Predicted to Double Under EPA Climate Rule

Via The Hill: Shutdowns of coal-fired power plants would more than double under the Obama administration’s landmark climate rule, a federal analysis found. The rule is also projected to increase electricity prices 4.9 percent above what they would be without it. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) carbon limits for power plants are projected to cause […]
23May

Louisiana Leaders Should Fight EPA Overreach on Carbon Emissions

Via The Times-Picayune:  As state leaders meet in Baton Rouge for the legislative session, federal bureaucrats thousands of miles away are moving forward with an unprecedented incursion into Louisiana’s affairs. In just a few months, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to finalize a rule requiring states to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions, with the goal of closing […]
22May

EPA’s Gift Horse – Governors Have A Better Choice

Via The Daily Caller: This spring, as coal companies, their employees and suppliers are hammered by a weak market, the Obama administration is proposing a new carbon rule to finish them off. While the coal industry is most exposed to the coming damage from EPA’s Clean Power Plan, the pain is coming for others too. […]
21May

Federal Coercion and the EPA’s Clean Power Plan

Via The Atlantic: When Congress is deadlocked on some urgent issue, such as climate change, presidents often insist that they must be able to act, even if doing so means doing things that neither Congress nor the Constitution’s drafters ever explicitly authorized. But does the danger to be salved justify the danger of departing from […]
20May

EPA Power Grab Looks Like Obamacare Redux

Via The Washington Examiner: Everyone remembers former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ill-advised comment that the Affordable Care Act would have to pass so that the American people could find out what was in it. Unfortunately, what should have been a cautionary tale has instead been an object lesson in rulemaking for President Obama’s bureaucracy. Take, […]
19May

EPA and the Grid

Via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: I wish to add some perspective to the May 5 letter “The EPA’s Plan Doesn’t Threaten Electrical Service.” The claim this title makes is patently false. PJM Interconnection is the electric grid operator for Pennsylvania and several surrounding states. The vast majority of baseload generation units in the PJM footprint are […]
18May

WV Lawmakers Show Support for Federal Measure to Roll Back Clean Power Plan

Via The State Journal: Several West Virginia lawmakers gathered May 18 to support the Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act, which aims to roll back proposed federal regulations on coal-fired power plants. Senate President Bill Cole, R-Mercer and Speaker of the House Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, among several other lawmakers, came together at the Capitol to support the […]