Coal | Grist

U.S. headed for massive decline in carbon emissions 4
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago For years now, many members of Congress have insisted that cutting carbon emissions was difficult, if not impossible. It is not. During the two years since 2007, carbon emissions have dropped 9 percent. While part of this drop is from the recession, part of it is also from efficiency gains and from replacing coal with natural gas, wind, solar, and geothermal energy.
Shoutin' Down the Army Corps Hearing on Mountaintop Removal

Should DOJ Investigate Big Coal Bedlam? 0
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago
TOO COAL FOR SCHOOL

Dirty energy fuels college campuses 3
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago Many of us look back in disbelief at some of the things we did in college. We’re seeing that same sense of disbelief from current college students when they learn that their campuses are still powered by coal.
COALFIELD SOS

Senate must block OSMRE nominee Pizarchik 1
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago When the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources meets today, Oct. 8, the stakes over the crucial directorship of the embattled OSMRE, charged with enforcing the sweeping surface mining reclamation laws, could not be higher.
FACES Runs Bizarre "Bandits" Ads

Big coal gone wild: The sequel 0
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago It wasn't enough for FACES -- the bogus Big Coal front created by a Washington, D.C. lobby firm -- to be pilloried on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Daily Show for using fake iStock photos in their ads.
National Day of Action Against Coal 0
Posted 2 months ago The first three days of this week are seeing a slew of activities taking on coal.
EPA - Now is the time

Coal’s Ash is On the Line 0
Posted 2 months ago
Sen. Jeff Bingaman answers Grist’s questions on the climate bill [VIDEO] 2
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) is chairman of the Energy & Natural Resources Committee and a key player on energy issues. In June, his committee voted to approve S. 1462, the American Clean Energy Leadership Act, an energy bill that may or may not be combined with a climate bill from Boxer's Environment & Public Works Committee (and possibly an allowance allocation bill from Baucus's Finance Committee) into a comprehensive bill to match the House's. Sen. Bingaman was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
Extra largesse

Fossil fuel subsidies dwarf clean energy subsidies; Obama wants to eliminate them 13
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago One often hears opponents of clean energy say that renewable sources are too expensive; they can't get by without subsidies; they can't compete in a "free market." One of the many reasons this is a daffy argument is that there is no such thing as a free market, certainly not in energy. Fossil fuels have benefited from a century of subsidies and supporting infrastructure -- and are still subsidized lavishly relative to their scrappy little competitors. This is a point enviros often make, but a new report from the Environmental Law Institute and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars puts some teeth in it.
Sen. Ben Cardin answers Grist’s questions on public transit and mountaintop removal mining 0
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who boasts close to a perfect score from the League of Conservation Voters, has become a key player on green issues in the Senate and an important voice against mountaintop-removal mining. He was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
Coal Blood Money 101

WVU Honors Massey and Murray Over Crandall Canyon Miners? 0
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
EPA revamping rules for toxic releases from coal plants 0
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Tuesday that it plans to revise the existing standards for wastewater discharges from coal-fired power plants. The news came one day after three environmental groups announced they intend to sue the agency for failing to properly regulate such discharges.
Wonkeriffic!

An interview with Jason Burnett, who worked on EPA greenhouse gas regulations 0
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago

The following is an interview with Jason Burnett, who worked in the EPA under President GW Bush, wherein we discuss efforts by the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases. Burnett quit the EPA in protest in June 2008, alleging interference from the Office of the Vice President.

The interview is meant as a supplement to the story, "Everything you always wanted to know about EPA greenhouse gas regulations, but were afraid to ask."
Coal slurry smiles

NY Times nails Clean Water Act crimes and (lack of) punishment 0
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Readers of the New York Times probably dropped their jaws in amazement at the lead story on Sunday: Seven-year-old Ryan Massey, of Prenter, West Virginia, smiled back with capped teeth, the enamel devoured by toxic tap water. His brother sported scabs and rashes, courtesy of the heavy metals--including lead, nickel--in their bath water.
Senate Hearing for Friend of Coal Pizarchik

Breaking: OSMRE Suit Cites Chronic Pizarchik Failure 1
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
better luck next time

Dirty coal group’s 14th forgery impersonated veterans; real vets support a climate bill 0
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Climate change is a major threat to U.S. Security. That’s why the conservative Virgina Republican, John Warner, is pushing hard to pass the bill — because he is a former Navy secretary and former Senate Armed Services Committee chair.
Citizens welcome return to sound science, sanity

EPA to hold 79 mountaintop removal permits for further review 0
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
In a move that pleased environmentalists and coalfield residents in central and southern Appalachia, the EPA recommended that none of the 79 permits associated with mountaintop removal coal mining be streamlined for approval.
Stop In the Name of Law

EPA says pending mountaintop-removal permits would likely violate Clean Water Act 9
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
Very big news out of the Environmental Protection Agency this morning: The agency has determined that all 79 mountaintop-removal mining permits submitted to it for review by the Army Corps of Engineers would violate the Clean Water Act.
Blast It, EPA: Make a Decision Already!

A moment of truth for Appalachia, Obama and EPA on mountaintop removal coal mining 4
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
sweeping ACCCE clean

Dominoes Keep Falling for Clean Coal Coalition 1
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Only a week after the nation's third largest utility, Duke Energy, announced it was terminating its membership in the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), citing disagreement over clean energy legislation, another company has followed suit.