Killing Old King Coal

Timothy Birdnow

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing the end for coal-fired electricity.

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0660-0001 

" The proposed requirements, which are strictly limited to
new sources, would require new fossil fuel-fired EGUs greater than 25
megawatt electric (MWe) to meet an output-based standard of 1,000
pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour (lb CO2/MWh),
based on the performance of widely used natural gas combined cycle
(NGCC) technology. Because of the economics of the energy sector, the
EPA and others project that NGCC will be the predominant choice for new
fossil fuel-fired generation even absent this rule. In its base case
analysis, the EPA does not project any new coal-fired EGUs without CCS
to be built in the absence of this proposal through 2030. New coal-
fired or pet coke-fired units could meet the standard either by
employing carbon capture and storage (CCS) \1\ of approximately 50% of
the CO2 in the exhaust gas at startup, or through later
application of more effective CCS to meet the standard on average over
a 30-year period"

End excerpt.

This based on an unproven theory, one that has become increasingly difficult to defend from a scientific standpoint.

Barack Obama promised to kill coal before he was elected President. Nobody can claim he doesn't keep his campaign promises. I wonder if the folks in West Virginia and Pennsylvania are paying attention?

And what, pray tell, is the GOP doing?

(Hat tip: SEPP)