Coal News

Utah Coal Plant on Hold Over C02
November 14, 2008 - The fate of scores of new coal-burning power plants is now in limbo over whether to regulate heat-trapping greenhouse gases.   The uncertainty resulted when an Environmental Protection Agency appeals panel on Thursday rejected a federal permit for Deseret Power's plant in Bonanza, Utah. The court cited failure to explain why the permit did not inclde limitations for carbon dioxide emissions. More

Environmental Appeals Board (EPA) Decision

Wisconsin Coal Plant Cancelled
November 8, 2008 -- Alliant Energy Corp said state regulators on Tuesday rejected its Wisconsin utility unit's plan to build a $1.26 billion coal/biomass unit at an existing power station in Wisconsin. More

Georgia Court Denies Coal Permit - Cites Greenhouse Gases
July 1, 2008 -- In a potentially far-reaching decision, judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore of the Georgia's Fulton County Superior Court denied a permit for a 1200MW plant in Early County. This marks the first time that a judge has applied a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision on global warming to emissions from an industrial source, environmental groups said. Dynergy, plant developer, plans to appeal. More

Parting Gifts to the Coal Industry

Bush Administration Rams Through New Regulations Before Leaving Office

Coal Mining Debris Rule Is Approved
December 2, 2008 -- White House on Tuesday approved a final rule that will make it easier for coal companies to dump rock and dirt from mountaintop mining operations into nearby streams and valleys. The rule is one of the most contentious of all the regulations emerging from the White House in President Bush's last weeks in office. More

Bush proposes strip mining revival at Black Mesa
November 2008 -- The Office of Surface Mining (OSM) the Department of Interior has recently re-opened the Black Mesa Project - Final Environmental Impact Statement which outlines harmful impacts to every level of the ecological and cultural systems on Black Mesa and has global repercussions. Comments for Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) were issued the day after the election. Peabody Coal, the world’s largest coal company, is currently pushing through plans to massively expand dirty coal strip-mining operations targeting the Dine’ (Navajo) & Hopi peoples sacred ancestral homelands of Black Mesa, AZ. The new rules would establish permanent mining rights for Peabody until the coal runs out or until at least 2026. Read this commentary on Grist that discusses the sad history of this project and impact on Najajo and Hopi water resources. TAKE ACTION

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