Free Republic

Some students at Evergreen Middle School got a very one-sided presentation (according to multiple reports from parents) on energy on Friday, May 3, watching a live “What the Frack” rap that told students natural gas and coal “poisoned the water, poisoned the air, poisoned the people, do you think that’s fair?” The rap was delivered by a pair of children who call themselves “Earth Guardians.” (VIDEO-AT-LINK) Full version at the end of the post. CompleteColorado.com has been investigating this matter since Tuesday. We are aware that numerous parents made complaints to the principal, Kristopher Schuh. Schuh sent the following response...

Colorado Senate Bill 252 and the multibillion-dollar economic burden it would impose on .. Colorado. ... SB 252 is being fast tracked to limit public debate. The bill squeaked through the Senate by just one vote and now will be heard in the House. Coloradans: It's time to contact your representative to say how critical it is to stop this costly bill. ... It will just take a minute or two to make your voice heard and your representative needs to hear from you today.

Turns Back To Coal, Abandons Emissions TargetsFrom Dr. Benny Peiser at The GWPFThe Japanese government is moving to speed up the environmental assessment process for new coal-fired power plants. According to Japanese media reports, the government intends to make 12 months the maximum period for assessing and approving new coal-fired power plants as its utilities seek to develop more power stations to stem surging energy supply bills. With the government considering the closure of much of the installed nuclear capacity over the medium term, the spotlight is back on coal as the cheapest energy source, notwithstanding plans to cut carbon...

The European Parliament just voted down a measure that would have attempted to revive its carbon market, likely dooming it to a slow and undignified death. This was a last-ditch effort to drive the EU’s carbon price back to a level that would incentivize green reforms. And it failed. --------------------------------------------------- The EU has been the global laboratory testing the green agenda to see how it works. Today’s story means that the guinea pig died; the most important piece of green intervention in world history has become an expensive and embarrassing flop. It’s hard to exaggerate the importance of this for...

New EPA regulations could force the closure of 65 percent of coal plants across the country, A Duke University study shows. That trend can already be seen in Indiana. Duke Energy officials is planning to close four of its coal processing units at its Wabash River Facility in 2015. They are still deciding whether to transition a fifth unit to a natural gas processor. Duke Energy Spokesman Lew Middleton says since 1990, Duke has spent about $2.8 billion to upgrade its Indiana facilities so they comply with EPA regulations. “These units here at Wabash River—units two, three, four and five—are...

Normally when I see somebody upset with the EPA, it’s because they’re shoving their regulatory boot down on the throat of somebody else. That’s why it came as something of a surprise to learn that the agency may be facing a lawsuit from a coalition of very blue states. What on Earth, I wondered, might the EPA have done to these guys? Nothing, as it turns out, and that’s why they’re upset. The EPA has, in the opinion of the complainants, dragging its heels on ramming through new energy production standards which will effectively exterminate construction of any new coal...

Having practically banned the construction of new coal plants, Environmental Protection Agency regulators may try to cap emissions from existing coal plants, according to the acting head of the agency. “[T]hat’s certainly something that will be on the table in this next fiscal year,” acting EPA administrator Bob Perciasepe told reporters last week, per Midwest Energy News, after saying that the EPA intends to start “working with states on existing sources, but we’re not there yet.” The EPA has already finalized New Source Performance standards, a regulation limits the how much carbon

Climate Change: The man who once compared coal trains to Nazi boxcars headed to crematoria leaves government service to fight what he calls the "pipeline to disaster" and promote his brand of climate quackery. In 2007, Dr. James Hansen testified before the Iowa Utilities Board not in his capacity as a government employee but, in his words, "as a private citizen, a resident of Kintnersville, Pa., on behalf of the planet, of life on Earth, including all species." Hansen told the board, "If we cannot stop the building of more coal-fired power plants, those coal trains will be death trains...

Environmental activists and politicians would like you to think that we must love their regulations -- or hate trees and animals. I love trees and animals. But you can love nature and still hate the tyranny that environmental regulations bring. The Environmental Protection Agency just announced it will boost gas prices ("only" a penny, although industry says 6 to 9 cents) to make another minuscule improvement to air quality. In New York City, my mayor wants to ban Styrofoam cups, saying, "I think it's something we can do without." Congress already dictates the design of our cars, toilets and light...

An obsession with CO2 has left us dangerously short of power as coal-powered stations are forced to close As the snow of the coldest March since 1963 continues to fall, we learn that we have barely 48 hours’ worth of stored gas left to keep us warm, and that the head of our second-largest electricity company, SSE, has warned that our generating capacity has fallen so low that we can expect power cuts to begin at any time. It seems the perfect storm is upon us. The grotesque mishandling of Britain’s energy policy by the politicians of all parties, as...

Somewhat hidden among the alarming data about global warming and environmental horribles is a significant piece of good news that seems to have slipped by with little attention. International and American agencies charged with keeping track of carbon pollution each report that while global air pollution is on the rise, U.S. emissions have reduced significantly in recent years. The International Energy Agency in 2012 reported that U.S. carbon emissions declined from the previous year and also were down an astounding 7.7 percent since 2006. That's the largest reduction from any country on the planet. A similar finding from the U.S....

Matt Ridley, author of The Red Queen, Genome, The Rational Optimist and other books, dropped by Reason's studio in Los Angeles last month to talk about a curious global trend that is just starting to receive attention. Over the past three decades, our planet has gotten greener! Even stranger, the greening of the planet in recent decades appears to be happening because of, not despite, our reliance on fossil fuels. While environmentalists often talk about how bad stuff like CO2 causes bad things to happen like global warming, it turns out that the plants aren't complaining. Approximately 19 minutes. Produced...

After President Richard Nixon declared in 1973 that the nation’s goal should be “to meet our own energy needs without depending on any foreign sources,” he was echoed by president after president. But instead of reaching “energy independence” — where the United States wouldn’t need to purchase foreign oil — Nixon’s goal of oil self-sufficiency began to look more and more distant. But that was before the shale revolution. Recent technological advances in drilling and hydraulic fracturing in shale plays, such as South Texas’ Eagle Ford Shale, have touched off a renaissance in oil production. In January, domestic oil production...

Coal-fired power may be on the wane in the United States, but reports of its death are greatly exaggerated, energy executives said Thursday. The bluster about coal’s demise came as the end of IHS CERAWeek approached and delegates mused about the diversity of the United States’ power mix. “We’re talking about coal going from 42 percent of generation in 2010 to about 33 to 35 percent …in 2030,” said Barry Nicholls, vice president of power systems sales for Siemens Energy North America. “I don’t think going from 42 percent to 33 percent means coal is going away. I think that’s...

The Department of Labor is sending more than $5 million to Eastern Kentucky to help laid-off coal miners and their families. $5,192,500, to be exact.The federal government announced the emergency grant today. In a press release, the agency said the money would go to providing re-training for miners and their spouses. “When families lose their entire source of income, they often need more than one job to make ends meet,” said acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris. “This grant from the Labor Department will help prepare both displaced miners and their spouses for new employment in eastern Kentucky’s growing...

Multiple rural county sheriffs from Utah testified Thursday about the abusive use of police power by Bureau of Land Management rangers or forest protection officers with the U.S. Forest Service. They are asserting it is time to rein in the authority the agencies should have never been allowed to exercise. Sheriffs from San Juan, Kane and Garfield counties spoke in favor of HB155, sponsored by Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, which proposes to limit BLM rangers and forest protection officers from exercising police power over state and local laws unless someone's safety is at risk or federal contracts are in place...

While some Kentucky Democrats have been skeptical of a potential Ashley Judd candidacy for U.S. Senate, House Speaker Greg Stumbo is no longer among them, saying Thursday he would encourage her to run. “When I talk to her I’m going to encourage her as I would any other candidate that this is a winnable race,” he said. Stumbo went on to blast Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, calling him “Dr. Doom” and “the father of gridlock.” Stumbo and Judd have traded phone messages in recent days. He said she left him another message on his work phone last night. Stumob...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday that the United States’ coal industry’s days are numbered. “Even though the coal industry doesn’t totally know it yet or is ready to admit it, its day is done. … Here in the U.S., I’m happy to say, the king is dead. Coal is a dead man walking,” Bloomberg said at the Advanced Research Projects Agency — Energy (ARPA-E) Energy Innovation Summit near Washington, D.C. Bloomberg has been a vocal advocate for killing coal-fired power. He said health problems from pollution and climate change-exacerbated events like Hurricane Sandy have fomented growing recognition...

Two wind turbines towering above the Cape Cod community of Falmouth, Mass., were intended to produce green energy and savings -- but they've created angst and division, and may now be removed at a high cost as neighbors complain of noise and illness. "It gets to be jet-engine loud," said Falmouth resident Neil Andersen. He and his wife Betsy live just a quarter mile from one of the turbines. They say the impact on their health has been devastating. They're suffering headaches, dizziness and sleep deprivation and often seek to escape the property where they've lived for more than 20...

It looks like the radical environmental left may have to find a new favorite dirty four letter word.  Scientists at Ohio State University have announced the discovery of a new process that takes the energy from coal without burning it – "and removes virtually all of the pollution."  The technology, known as Coal-Direct Chemical Looping (CCDL), captures more than 99 percent of coal's carbon dioxide emissions based on laboratory research.  The team of scientists led by Liang-Shih Fan, professor of chemical engineering and director of the Clean Coal Research Laboratory at Ohio State University, has been working on this and...

President Barack Obama is tired of waiting for Congress to move on legislation to reduce carbon emissions, and his administration is poised to move forward on actions to do just that—including a move that will effectively eliminate the possibility of any new coal plant opening in the United States, experts say. "We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence," Obama said during his State of the Union address. "Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment...

Canada can teach the United States some lessons on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Sunday in a blunt rejoinder to recent chiding by the Obama administration on climate change. Baird told The Canadian Press that the U.S. should actually be following Canada's lead on working to cut back on the use of coal-fired electricity generation. Baird was responding to U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson who told The Canadian Press separately last week that President Barack Obama's State of the Union address calling for swift action on climate change should also be interpreted as a challenge to...

More than 200 people crowded into the Monticello High School auditorium on February 7 for a public hearing on the proposed designation of endangered species status for the small population of Gunnision Sage Grouse in San Juan County. Representatives from the US Fish and Wildlife Service faced a mostly hostile but mostly respectful crowd. They were there to explain the rationale behind the proposed designation and how it may affect the area. Two rules are proposed: one would designate the bird as an endangered species and the other would designation large swaths of land as critical habitat. San Juan County...

America will only achieve the ambitious climate change goals outlined by President Barack Obama last week by encouraging wide-scale fracking for natural gas over the next few years. That is the advice of one of the nation's senior scientists, Professor William Press, a member of the president's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Fracking – known officially as hydraulic fracturing – involves pumping high-pressure water through underground rocks to release natural gas trapped deep underground. It is believed that there are vast reserves of these subterranean gas fields across the US. Thousands of wells have already been drilled in...

A settlement announced Friday is expected to end the state’s long-running dispute with the EPA over mandatory controls to reduce haze-causing pollution at the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station in northwest New Mexico. The agreement, which incorporates most of a compromise plan proposed by the New Mexico Environment Department to the EPA last year, calls for the closure of two of the plant’s four units by Dec. 31, 2017. They would be replaced by a 150- to 200-megawatt natural gas-fueled unit. The two remaining units would be equipped with state-proposed and less expensive pollution controls using selective non-catalytic reduction technology...

A technology for generating electricity from coal without pollution achieves a milestone. Coal is abundant and cheap, but burning it is a dirty business. This week researchers at Ohio State University announced a milestone in the development of a far cleaner way to use the energy in coal—a process called chemical looping that has the potential to reduce or eliminate a wide range of pollutants, including carbon dioxide and smog-forming nitrogen oxides. One version of the technology ran continuously for over a week in a 25-kilowatt test facility, the researchers reported, the longest any such process has run. The successful...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made a veiled threat to take Canada to the International Joint Commission in a dispute over plans to expand coal production in the Elk River Valley of southeastern B.C., near the Montana border. The threat was made in a letter that outlines concerns about the potential for pollution running down B.C.'s Elk and Fording rivers into two bodies of water shared by B.C. and Montana — Lake Koocanusa and the Kootenay (Kootenai) River. The letter was sent to Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent in December by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. She told Kent she...

COLUMBUS, Ohio—A new form of clean coal technology reached an important milestone recently, with the successful operation of a research-scale combustion system at Ohio State University. The technology is now ready for testing at a larger scale. For 203 continuous hours, the Ohio State combustion unit produced heat from coal while capturing 99 percent of the carbon dioxide produced in the reaction. Liang-Shih Fan, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and director of Ohio State’s Clean Coal Research Laboratory, pioneered the technology called Coal-Direct Chemical Looping (CDCL), which chemically harnesses coal’s energy and efficiently contains the carbon dioxide produced before...

The record increase in U.S. crude oil production during 2012 and the significant decline in coal use for domestic electricity generation were reflected in the movement of those two commodities by rail last year. Crude oil and petroleum products accounted for the biggest increase in railcar loadings among commodities in 2012, while coal had the largest decline. Notwithstanding these changes, coal remained by far the dominant category of carload shipments, accounting for 41% of total carloads, compared to a 4% share for all petroleum and petroleum products combined. Last year, the amount of crude oil and petroleum products delivered by...

Want a better sense for why climate change is such a daunting problem? Check out this striking new chart from the U.S. Energy Information Administration: China’s coal use grew 9 percent in 2011, rising to 3.8 billion tons. At this point, the country is burning nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined. Coal, of course, is the world’s premier fossil fuel, a low-cost source of electricity that kicks a lot of carbon-dioxide up into the atmosphere. And China’s growing appetite is a big reason why global greenhouse-gas emissions have soared in recent years, even as the...

Coal consumption in China grew more than 9% in 2011, continuing its upward trend for the 12th consecutive year, according to newly released international data. China's coal use grew by 325 million tons in 2011, accounting for 87% of the 374 million ton global increase in coal use. Of the 2.9 billion tons of global coal demand growth since 2000, China accounted for 2.3 billion tons (82%). China now accounts for 47% of global coal consumption—almost as much as the entire rest of the world combined. Robust coal demand growth in China is the result of a more than 200%...

The fuel industry's American Petroleum Institute tested the 15 percent ethanol gas approved in 2010 and found it gums up fuel systems, prompts "check engine" lights to come on, and messes with fuel gauge readings. "Failure of these components could result in breakdowns that leave consumers stranded on busy roads and highways," said the industry report. Worse: API said the fuel problems--not found in E5 or E10 blends--aren't always covered by auto warranties. The industry prefers pure fuel to an ethanol mix, but the report isn't likely to slow the administrations green push

A 2012 performance review of the The Colorado Energy Office (CEO) revealed several disturbing findings by the State Auditor last month, which included a non-existent accounting system for CEO’s 34 programs, a runaway budget, and staff who had no knowledge of program goals or standards. The forty-eight page report was was dated December 18, 2012 and included background information on the CEO, key facts and findings, the State Auditor concerns, and recommendations for the CEO moving forward. The CEO was established via executive order in 1977 as the Office of Energy Conservation. Last year, House Bill 12-1315 changed CEO’s overall...

The Environmental Law Center of the American Tradition InstitutePRESS RELEASEWashington, D.C. Contact: Chris HornerJanuary 28, 2013 info@atinstitute.orgToday, the Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on behalf of the American Tradition Institute (ATI) in federal district court in Washington, DC. ATI seeks to compel EPA to end its eight-month stonewall of two requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) regarding EPA’s close working relationship with two pressure groups with which EPA has uncomfortably close ties, at great taxpayer expense.The complaint cited to journal papers and media reports in supporting its description that: “These two...

In January 2008 Barack Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle: “Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Businesses would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that cost onto consumers.” He promised that his plan would cause electricity rates to skyrocket. ... Barack Obama’s EPA just killed off another 3,900 energy jobs in Texas. ... Obama’s new EPA regulations will cost the coal industry $180 billion and force electricity rates to skyrocket.

Wholesale (spot) coal prices across all basins fell during the first half of 2012 before stabilizing in the latter half of the year. Competition between natural gas and coal for electric power generation drove price declines in the Appalachian and Powder River Basins (PRB), two key sources for thermal coal, through the summer. Also, mild temperatures in the winter and high stockpiles at electric power plants limited demand for more purchases of coal in the second half of 2012. While spot prices fell across the country, the Appalachian and Powder River Basins were affected the most. With new competition from...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ... has proposed designating 1.7 million acres in southwest Colorado and southeast Utah as critical habitat for the bird ... The designation sometimes, but not always, means restrictions on human activities on that land. The public and the scientific community have until March 12 to comment before the agency makes a final decision on whether to list the Gunnison sage grouse as endangered.

In the past few years they have taken control of Mexico’s Coahuila region in the north, along the border of Texas, and are now starting to thrive like never before. Los Zetas covertly entered the region, and under the threat of extreme violence for those who didn’t cooperate they swiftly brought every aspect of commerce, politics, and business under their control in less than three years.This expansion was not undertaken to increase its drug trafficking or prostitution ring operations, but rather to enter into the business of coal mining.

Energy companies behind the oil boom on the Northern Plains are increasingly turning to an industrial-age workhorse - the locomotive - to move their crude to refineries across the U.S., as plans for new pipelines stall and existing lines can't keep up with demand. ... The environmental fears carry an ironic twist: Oil trains are gaining popularity in part because of a shortage of pipeline capacity - a problem that has been worsened by environmental opposition to such projects as TransCanada's stalled Keystone XL pipeline. That project would carry Bakken and Canadian crude to the Gulf of Mexico. Wayde Schafer,...

Poland is addicted to coal. That is the message the country has been sending both domestically and internationally as Warsaw prepares to host the global climate summit next year. In Europe, the Poles are isolated in their fight for looser emissions reduction goals and against fixes to the EU’s cap-and-trade system. … The apparent pressure on environmental groups, while concerning, does not seem inconsistent with Warsaw’s approach to issues relating to climate change. On Monday, coal-dependent Poland continued its virtually solitary opposition to a widely-supported—and badly needed—short-term fix for Europe’s carbon-trading system, the continent’s flagship policy in the fight against...

Coal is likely to rival oil as the world’s biggest source of energy in the next five years, with potentially disastrous consequences for the climate, according to the world's leading authority on energy economics. One of the biggest factors behind the rise in coal use has been the massive increase in the use of shale gas in the US. Coal consumption is increasing all over the world—even in countries and regions with carbon-cutting targets—except the US, where shale gas has displaced coal, shows new research from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The decline of the fuel in the US has...

HAZARD, Ky (WYMT-TV ) -- A local coal company in the mountains is laying off today. Perry County Coal Corporation, owned by TECO Coal, laid off more than 150 workers today and released a statement attributing the layoffs to a weakening coal market. Below is the statement released by the company. “Due to depressed market conditions, Perry County Coal Corporation is reducing staff levels at its operations in Hazard, Kentucky to match expected sales for the coming year. On Friday, December 7, 2012, the company reduced its workforce by 156 positions, or 29 percent of the workforce at that location...

NRG Energy has abandoned plans for a massive coal-fired electric generating unit between Houston and Dallas, citing poor economics. The 800-megawatt unit would have been an addition to an existing coal plant in Limestone County near Buffalo, and had drawn opposition from environmentalists. The New Jersey-based power producer told the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality last month that it no longer needed environmental permits since it does not plan to proceed with the $1 billion project. The proposed new unit at NRG’s Limestone generating station would have been too costly compared with the potential of a plant running on cheap...

President Obama would have failed Negotiations 101, if there was such a course, the first rule being "do not insult" the people you're dealing with. Hitting the road to campaign for his plan to raise taxes on small business employers, investors and people in the top two income brackets, he hurled some mean-spirited accusations and insults at House Republican leaders even before they got down to serious negotiations to avoid the dreaded "fiscal cliff." House Speaker John Boehner and his leadership team, whom Obama likened to Charles Dickens' hard-hearted, skinflint Ebenezer Scrooge, were offering the American people nothing more than...

EQUALITY - The southern Illinois coal mine where a worker died earlier this month will not reopen. Peabody Energy announced Tuesday the company has decided to permanently close the Willow Lake Mine and layoff notices have been sent to 400 employees. The mine was closed after the Nov. 17 death of Chad Wayne Meyers, 30, of Goreville. Meyers was pinned between a piece of machinery and the mine wall, according to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration...

More than 1,000 New Coal Plants Planned WorldwideBy Damian Carrington, The Guardian Published: November 26th, 2012 More than 1,000 coal-fired power plants are being planned worldwide, new research has revealed. The huge planned expansion comes despite warnings from politicians, scientists, and campaigners that the planet's fast-rising carbon emissions must peak within a few years if runaway climate change is to be avoided and that fossil fuel assets risk becoming worthless if international action on global warming moves forward. Coal plants are the most polluting of all power stations and the World Resources Institute (WRI) identified 1,200 coal plants in planning...

The boom in U.S. natural-gas production has driven economic growth across much of the country, but not everyone is a winner, including this rural town in Appalachia, rich in natural gas and coal. A glut of natural gas has pushed prices lower for both gas and coal, which compete to supply electricity. This has lowered energy costs for homes and businesses, given a crucial competitive advantage to manufacturers that use natural gas as a raw material, and created jobs in other industries, like steelmaking, trucking and construction that make products and supply services to drillers. But lower prices for coal...

About 125 employees of North Shore Mining will be laid off Jan. 5 when the taconite operation idles two of its four pelletizing lines, according to an announcement issued Monday by the mine’s owner and operator, Cliffs Natural Resources. The pending layoffs will affect people working at North Shore’s mine in Babbitt in addition to those working at the production facility in Silver Bay, but the exact breakdown of how many jobs will be trimmed at each location has not yet been determined, according to Sandra Karnowski, Cliffs’ district manager of public affairs. North Shore Mining currently plans to operate...

The suspicions of Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe were correct: Rather than sitting before the House Energy and Commerce Committee three weeks ago to explain theways he “crucified” oil and natural gas companies, insteadAl Armendariz – who cancelled his appearance at the last minute – met with the Sierra Club for a job interview. This time the recently resigned EPA’s Region 6 administrator will eagerly attack another fossil fuel, joining the litigious environmental group as part of its “Beyond Coal” campaign. If there was any question that Armendariz unfairly regulated the gas and oil businesses under his authority in Texas, Oklahoma,...