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WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama's administration said Thursday it will regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, after legislation on climate change died in Congress. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it would regulate fossil fuel power plants and petroleum refineries -- which together emit nearly 40 percent of US greenhouse gases -- starting in 2012.

It sounds innocuous enough. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued new guidelines Thursday requiring state and local authorities that issue pollution permits based on federal standards to use the "Best Available Control Technology," or BACT. The stated goal is to achieve a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. Most of the facilities affected by the new guidelines will likely be power plants, refineries and cement production operations. What the BACT guidelines simply mean, according to the agency, is this: "After taking into account technical feasibility, cost and other economic, environmental and energy considerations, permitting authorities should narrow the...

Three power plants on the San Diego County coastline face major changes — from shuttering operations to building new cooling towers — in the wake of a landmark ruling by California’s water-quality officials to protect sea life. The State Water Resources Control Board last week decided to phase out once-through cooling for seaside power plants because the process kills more than 2.6 million fish and 19 billion fish larvae annually, according to the agency. The policy may be contested by energy companies concerned about the cost of compliance, including fitting new infrastructure into existing facilities. Ratepayers statewide will pay the...

Tough new rules imposed by the State Water Board Tuesday would force 19 coastal power plants to begin phasing out their reliance on ocean-water cooling systems — raising the specter of giant towers erected along I-5 to cool the San Onofre nuclear plant. San Onofre and the other plants, including the AES plant in Huntington Beach, were given deadlines to make technological updates to their cooling system by the Water Board, which voted to approve the new rules late Tuesday. The deadlines are years away — for San Onofre, it’s 2022. The new rules could force many plants to switch...

(picture) - at the time, the world's fastest - the subs were the bane of American sailors. Now, the reactors that powered those submarines are being marketed as the next innovation in green power. Environmentalists say the technology is outdated and potentially dangerous, and marketing it as green energy is an abuse of nuclear power's good green name. The Russians are not alone in pushing the idea that the next generation of nuclear reactors should have more in common with the small power plants on submarines than the sprawling installations of today. But the kinds of marine reactors the Russians...

"New Jersey jihadist arrested in Yemen worked at nuclear power plants" SNIPPET: "The South Jersey man who Yemini officials are calling a terrorist with links to al-Qaeda previously worked at three local nuclear power plants. Sharif Mobley, 26, is being held in a jail in Yemen after he allegedly killed a police guard and seriously injured another during a shootout at a hospital on Monday. The Buena, N.J. native has also been accused of taking part in several acts of terrorism, Yemini officials say. He also purportedly has ties to the same branch of al-Qaeda who are suspected of attempting...

A controversial economist working at the Office of Management and Budget has raised questions about whether a new air pollution rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency would impose too high a cost on coal-fired power plants...Randall Lutter, who served as the Food and Drug Administration's head of policy under George W. Bush and has battled environmentalists for years on issues such as climate change and smog, has been examining the economic impact of federal rules at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Lutter is a long-time ally of OIRA's director, Cass Sunstein. While Lutter's job portfolio remains unclear,...

Representatives from the electrical industry sharply criticized on Tuesday a proposal in the House to extend federal regulation to include local power plants in major cities to protect them and the national power grid from cyberattacks. Under the 1935 Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission enforces security standards for most of the nation's power plants, including facilities and control networks -- known as bulk power systems -- that connect power systems. But the commission does not have regulatory jurisdiction over electrical systems outside the continental United States and to local distribution facilities, which include some in large cities...

Blog: Note: The following blog entry is a quote: Blog Details Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria to Link Their Power Networks Iran, Iraq, and Turkey yesterday signed an agreement for power and energy cooperation and for linking their power networks with that of Syria. The memorandum of understanding was signed by Iran's Minister of Energy Parviz Fattah and his Iraqi and Turkish counterparts at the end of the first regional power conference, held in Baghdad. Under the agreement, power networks of the Persian Gulf Arab states, Central Asian republics and regional countries will in the long run be connected to those...

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the government may consider cost in deciding whether to order power plants to undertake environmental upgrades that would protect fish. The court's 6-3 decision is a defeat for environmentalists .. could have required an estimated 554 power plants to install technology that relies on recycled water to cool machinery. .. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates water-intake systems at power plants kill 3.4 billion fish and shellfish each year.

SACRAMENTO — Blamed for the widespread killing of marine life, California's coastal power plants are under mounting pressure to abandon an antiquated process that draws in ocean water to cool turbines. The battle has raged from the statehouse to the White House. California agencies are divided, the San Diego County Water Authority is worried, legislation has been introduced in Sacramento, and even the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to weigh in. Opponents of more controls have warned of higher bills and tighter energy supplies. Water supplies from desalination plants built alongside power generators also could be at risk, they say....

New Jersey raised more than $15 million from power companies and other bidders this week through its participation in a regional auction designed to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The auction is part of the first market-based cap and trade program in the nation to make polluters pay for the right to emit carbon dioxide and ultimately lower emission amounts. Each power company in the 10-state coalition must purchase allowances for every ton of carbon they emit each year. The proceeds will be invested by the states in energy efficiency projects and developing renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar....

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Kenya will pave the way for increased cooperation between the two countries, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Sheikholeslam said on Friday in Nairobi. In a meeting with Kenyan Vice President Stephene Kalonzo Musyoka, he stated that there has been substantial improvement in Tehran-Nairobi relations. Iranian companies are currently implementing road and power plant projects in Kenya and are interested in expanding their activities in the East African nation, Sheikholeslam said. He also expressed appreciation for the Kenyan president's invitation to Ahmadinejad. The Kenyan vice president stated that Nairobi is committed to supporting the Islamic Republic...

MARIETTA, Ohio (CNN) – Campaigning in coal country just two days before the presidential election, Sarah Palin is highlighting an interview Barack Obama gave to the San Francisco Chronicle in January in which the Democrat suggested coal plants would be bankrupted by his cap-and-trade proposal. Audio of Obama’s comments began bubbling up on major conservative blogs over the last 24 hours, and Palin wondered why voters were only now hearing about the remarks. The insinuation that the Chronicle had been hiding the coal comments from the public brought about shouts of “Liberal media!” from the crowd. “Why is the audio...

With news today that the United States Nuclear Watchdog, Dale Klein, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is set to visit the Turkey Point Nuclear Reactor Power Plant in South Miami-Dade Florida we thought we’d look at just how safe our nuclear reactors are from a surprise terrorist attack. A 1982 study by Sandia National Laboratories found that a core meltdown and radiological release at one of the two operating Indian Point reactors could cause 50,000 near-term deaths from acute radiation syndrome and 14,000 long-term deaths from cancer. When these results were originally disclosed to the press, an NRC official...

A coalition of water users filed a notice Thursday stating its intent to file a lawsuit alleging that power plants are harming fish in the troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The four water districts allege that Mirant Corp.'s natural gas-fired power plants in Antioch and Pittsburg are harming species including the delta smelt. The smelt's decline triggered a recent federal court decision that was expected to limit the amount of water available from the delta for people and farmers, including those served by the Belridge, Berrenda Mesa, Lost Hills, and Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa water districts. The plaintiffs say that Mirant's power plants...

Eighty-two percent of Americans living in close proximity to nuclear power plants favor nuclear energy, and 71 percent are willing to see a new reactor built near them, according to a new public opinion survey of more than 1,100 adults across the United States. Only residents within 10 miles of an operating nuclear power plant—electric company employees excluded—were questioned. The survey also found that 86 percent give the nearest nuclear power plant a “high” safety rating and that 87 percent are confident that the company operating the power plant can do so safely. The telephone survey of 1,152 randomly selected...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House agreed Wednesday to give the government broader powers to review foreign investments in U.S. power plants, ports and other facilities that could be vulnerable to terror attacks. The legislation, passed 423-0, would give legal muscle to a once- obscure federal office that gained attention a year ago with the uproar over plans by a Dubai-owned company to manage six of the nation's largest ports.

WASHINGTON – One of the world's top scientists on global warming called for the United States to stop building coal-fired power plants and eventually bulldoze older generators that don't capture and bury greenhouse gases. But 159 coal-fired power plants are scheduled to be built in the next decade or so, generating enough power for about 96 million homes, according to a study last month by the U.S. Department of Energy. Burning coal is one of the major sources of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas causing global warming. In prepared remarks to be delivered at the National Press Club Monday...

In what is being projected as an economic boom for the East Texas region (if it comes to fruition), the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) will soon begin work on a feasibility study for an East-West corridor. The announcement was made last week as the TxDOT Commission voted to move forward with the study that will cost an estimated $2 million. The corridor is the brainchild of the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway Coalition. "If we had a major four-lane, east-west highway through Jasper it would mean to us what I-10 means to Beaumont and I-20 means to Shreveport," said Jasper...