close

Coal-burning power plants could increase global warming emissions

By Steve Ferris 3 min read

A Philadelphia-based environmental advocacy group said the 150 coal-burning power plants that utility companies are planning to build across the country, including seven in Pennsylvania, would increase global warming emissions and create energy security and economic problems. PennEnvironmental criticizes the plant construction plans in a report, “Making Sense of the Coal Rush: The Consequences of Expanding America’s Dependence on Coal,” which it issued Thursday.

The report is based on information from the U.S. Energy Department and published reports.

Cited in the report are the proposed Greene Energy Resource Recovery Project, a waste coal-burning plant that would be built in Nemacolin in Greene County and the proposed Beech Hollow plant, which would also burn waste coal, in Robinson Township in Washington County.

Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) and two local residents appealed Wellington Development’s air quality discharge permit from the state for the Greene Energy plant.

The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board has not yet rendered a decision on the appeal.

Wellington claims the plant would consume 80 million tons of waste coal from dumpsites in Greene, Fayette and Washington counties over its 30-year lifespan and save the state an estimated $238 million in abandoned mine reclamation costs.

Five other plants proposed for southwestern Pennsylvania including one in Somerset County were also listed in PennEnvironmental’s report.

It claims the 150 plants would increase U.S. global warming emissions by 10 percent; increase domestic coal demand by 30 percent; result in $137 million in investments in outdated coal-burning technology as well as lost opportunities for investments in cleaner technologies, and create economic risks for ratepayers and utilities that could be forced to bear the cost of complying with any new regulations for limiting global warming emissions.

“We’re lining up for a sprint in the wrong direction on U.S. energy policy,” said PennEnvironmental spokesman Nathan Willcox.

“Pennsylvania has been scarred for decades by the environmental and public health impacts of coal mining and burning, and expanding the nation’s dependence on coal will only worsen these impacts while increasing global warming pollution.”

He said the seven proposed Pennsylvania plants would, alone, account for a 16 percent increase in the state’s carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide is chief global warming pollutant, Willcox said.

The organization is urging the state’s congressional delegation to support the Safe Climate Act bill that was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in June.

It would require the United States to reduce its global warming pollution by 15 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. The bill also calls for increasing the use of clean, renewable energy sources.

The entire report is available at the organization’s Web site, pennenvironmental.org.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.

Subscribe Today