http://www.coalpowermag.com COAL POWER en-us 2012 Sat, 4 Feb 2012 18:42:09 EST With the 2012 election year upon us, it promises to be an interesting time for energy politics and policy. Here are 12 (really 13 because of some creative headline writing) issues that will keep the sector hopping this year.... http://www.coalpowermag.com/commentary/370.html Wed, 1 Feb 2012 0:00:00 EST At year end 2011, as Americans emptied their wallets at the gas pump and crude oil reached almost $100 a barrel, OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia reported an $81.6 billion 2011 budget surplus.... http://www.coalpowermag.com/commentary/371.html Wed, 1 Feb 2012 0:00:00 EST The expectation of millions of "green jobs" has disappeared from public debate. Today, the debate is narrowly focused on "jobs" and selecting the best approach to developing permanent jobs, regardless of color. Some look to the government to create jobs through regulation or subsidy, and others trust companies operating under free market principles to create permanent jobs.... http://www.coalpowermag.com/commentary/375.html Wed, 1 Feb 2012 0:00:00 EST Although the burning of natural gas emits far less carbon dioxide than coal, a new study concludes that a greater reliance on natural gas would fail to significantly slow down climate change.... http://www.coalpowermag.com/commentary/356.html Thu, 1 Dec 2011 0:00:00 EST As China's economy continues to soar, its energy use and greenhouse gas emissions will keep on soaring as well—or so goes the conventional wisdom. A new analysis by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory now is challenging that notion, one widely held in both the United States and China.... http://www.coalpowermag.com/commentary/359.html Thu, 1 Dec 2011 0:00:00 EST The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to release new air quality standards for coal-fired power plants this month. Division in the power industry is encouraging the EPA to set an unachievable compliance timetable.... http://www.coalpowermag.com/commentary/362.html Thu, 1 Dec 2011 0:00:00 EST U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules are being processed at a furious pace in 2011. Unexpectedly, the new greenhouse gas and ozone rules were stayed by President Obama. However, it’s the Utility MACT Rule and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule that leave utilities on unsteady ground. The result has been a number of plant closure announcements that far exceed the magnitude of the coal-fired generation losses predicted by the EPA. The predicted losses vary greatly.... http://www.coalpowermag.com/commentary/342.html Sat, 1 Oct 2011 0:00:00 EDT Few reasonable people can dispute that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is conducting a war against coal. If you doubt that conclusion, just look at the large number of new regulations affecting coal-fired power plants that have been proposed in rapid-fire succession by the EPA.... http://www.coalpowermag.com/commentary/345.html Sat, 1 Oct 2011 0:00:00 EDT Experts say the cascading blackout  that put millions of Westerners in the dark in early September was no surprise: Major power outages have more than doubled in the last decade... http://www.coalpowermag.com/commentary/346.html Sat, 1 Oct 2011 0:00:00 EDT In a clear sign of growing industry unease about the availability of water for power plant operations, utility officials recently surveyed by Black & Veatch on a host of policy and business issues ranked water supply as their second-highest environmental concern and identified water management as the business issue that could have the greatest impact on the utility industry in the near future.... http://www.coalpowermag.com/commentary/335.html Mon, 1 Aug 2011 0:00:00 EDT