The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has agreed to close 18 coal units over the next 6 years. This is a major victory in the battle for clean air, particularly in regards to TVA, who has been sued many times for their air pollution violations as well as being responsible for one of the worst environmental disasters in history: the TVA Kingston Coal Ash spill. Hopefully this signifies a shift overall throughout the country, and throughout the world, away from coal and towards an energy system based on renewables instead of fossil fuels.
My favorite quote so far comes from this Time article:
If there is a war on coal, environmental forces may have just won the Battle of Midway.
You can also read more about this accord at The New York Times.
For those of you around Texas and throughout the United States, take this to heart: we are winning the fight against coal and we will continue to win as long as we keep up the pressure. Our best thoughts go out to all the folks gathered at Power Shift 2011 (going on all weekend) – you all have something to celebrate tonight!
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
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Wow! At first reading this news I was happy the government for once was taking charge of shutting down coal plants but when I thought about it more they are doing the opposite of what they have promised for years…making jobs! By closing down 18 coal plants that provide reliable electric power sources the EPA has arguably put thousands of people out of work and while it helps reduce our carbon foot print it does little to help our struggling economy. Coal is our number 1 energy production in the US but we sell most of it to China as an electric power sources.It doesn’t make since to close plants when your opening new ones like the surry coal plant right by my house of all places. Good article with knowledge and facts but disappointing for those losing their jobs and a safe electric power sources even though it will help out the environment.
Two things Joey:
1. The government is not “taking charge” of shutting down the coal plants. That would suggest that the federal government is demanding plants to be shut down (which would be nice, but that’s not what’s happening). The EPA has simply updated their regulations to comply with what their scientific, health-based studies and reports tell them. Whether or not a company that owns coal plants can comply with these new regulations is up to them – either to upgrade their plants with new pollution controls or to shut them down and replace them with other sources of energy.
2. Jobs: We only need so much energy. When one power plant shuts down that means whoever is working at that plant will lose their job. This is true and unfortunate. However, it does not have the impact you are suggesting it would on the economy in general. The American people still demand energy and so we have to meet that demand somehow. Something (hopefully energy efficiency and renewable energy) will be built or implemented in order to meet the power demand once supplied by these coal plants. And the best part? Jobs in renewables generally provide more jobs per megawatt than coal – wind for example employs 3 to 4 people to every 1 job in the coal industry to produce the same amount of power. So a transition from dirty coal plants to renewable energy will actually help the economy overall (at least to some degree).
I also certainly wouldn’t advocate for new coal plants, and I’m sorry you are next to a new one. New energy infrastructure should be dedicated to efficiency and renewables. However, a new coal plant is better (even if just slightly) than an old one simply because it will be newer technology and, therefore, have better pollution control devices, etc. Still nowhere near as clean as a renewable alternative, but not as bad as the oldest and dirtiest coal plants in the country.
Thank you for your post.