Tag: coal

Unclean at Any Speed

OZZIE ZEHNER – Electric cars don’t solve the automobile’s environmental problems. Note: Although we at The PeaceWorker are electric vehicle fans, this article raises many good questions that EV buffs need to consider. We run it in the interests of fairness and useful dialogue.

The Battle Against Big Energy’s Rush to Ruin Our Planet

DARYL HANNAH – “That’s all happened when you raise the temperature of the earth one degree,” says author Bill McKibben, “[t]he temperature will go up four degrees, maybe five, unless we get off coal and gas and oil very quickly.” Additional temperature rises could compromise our safety and cause incalculable damage from a large number of billion-dollar disasters in coming years – if we don’t address our emissions, insist upon an appropriate climate policy and curtail the rogue fossil fuel industry.

Plans to Ship Coal to China Face a Hurdle: The West Coast

PHILIP BUMP – Coal companies are in a bit of a bind. Well, a few binds, really, but let’s just focus on one at a time, shall we? Demand for their product domestically has dropped significantly of late, as prices of natural gas have remained low. But demand remains high overseas: In Europe, certainly, but particularly in Asia. So if you are running a coal company (which, if you are: Hello!), there’s an obvious solution. Take all that coal and ship it to China and India. Or maybe it’s not that easy.

Yes, Coal is Dying, but No, EPA is Not the Main Reason

DAVID ROBERTS – I know lots of websites (including Grist!) allow “guest bloggers” to repost stuff. But I think of The Christian Science Monitor as something of an institution. It’s disappointing to find misleading dreck on its site. Do I have to squint at the small print before I can trust an article on CSM now? Is there no editing? You kids get off my lawn!

Groups Propose Clean Energy Agenda for U.S.

MICHAEL MARIOTTE – Fed up with the undue influence of the energy companies, utilities, lobbyists and other interests that are making it impossible for Washington to move forward decisively in achieving America’s clean energy future, Nuclear Information and Resource Service and 35 other citizen organizations with more than 1.1 million combined members are joining forces to advance a nine-point “American Clean Energy Agenda” and to push for a serious renewable energy agenda no matter who is the next President or which party controls Congress.

PGE to Close Boardman Coal Plant

BOB JENKS: Portland General Electric (PGE) announced January 14, 2010 that, rather than attempt to upgrade its Boardman coal fired power plant and operate it until 2040 or longer, it now wants retire the plant in 2020. A number of folks in the Northwest have been working to stop PGE from investing $500 million in new pollution control and operating the plant indefinitely into the future. Investing that kind of money in a pulverized coal plant makes little sense for the planet and is a big financial risk to customers.