Coal
Coal Ash Along the Shores of the Great Lakes Threatens Water Quality as Residents Rally for Change
Just four miles up the shore from the public beach in Waukegan, Illinois, sits the Waukegan Generating Station, a formerly coal-powered electricity plant. According to Dulce Ortiz, a Waukegan resident, the coal ash—a byproduct of coal power generation—left behind by the plant is a “ticking bomb” that threatens not only her community’s water supply, but […]
Read MoreNew Wind and Solar Are Cheaper Than the Costs to Operate All But One Coal-Fired Power Plant in the United States
A coal-fired plant near Gillette, Wyoming stands alone in the nation on one measure of economic viability—a positive distinction for that plant, but a damning one for coal-fired electricity in general. Dry Fork Station, with generating capacity of 405 megawatts, is the only coal plant in the country that costs less to operate than it […]
Read MoreCarbon Removal Is Coming to Fossil Fuel Country. Can It Bring Jobs and Climate Action?
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo.—In early fall, residents of this desolate corner of southwestern Wyoming opened their mailboxes to find a glossy flyer. On the front, a truck barreled down a four-lane desert highway with a solar farm on one side and what looked like rows of shipping containers on the other. On the back was an […]
Read MoreSoaring West Virginia Electricity Prices Trigger Standoff Over the State’s Devotion to Coal Power
West Virginia is a standout in its allegiance to coal power. In the United States as a whole, coal’s share of the electricity mix has fallen from around half in 2005 to just 22 percent as the nation has turned to cheaper natural gas and increasingly, renewable energy. By contrast, West Virginia generated 91 percent […]
Read MoreOver 130 Power Plants That Have Spawned Leaking Toxic Coal Ash Ponds and Landfills Don’t Think Cleanup Is Necessary
A new report based on electric utilities’ own records reveals a significant challenge confronting the Biden administration as it grapples with enforcing coal ash regulations adopted seven years ago in the wake of natural disasters. The Environmental Protection Agency waited until January to take its first significant enforcement actions to protect communities from the hundreds […]
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