coal

UCLA Clinic persuades federal Administrative Law Judge to vacate approval of new coal mining permit on Indian land in Arizona

I have some exciting news I can’t resist sharing: UCLA’s Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic won a major administrative case last month, which is now final now that the time for appeal has run. All twelve of our clinic students spent a significant chunk of this fall working on it, along with me and …

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New environmental dating site matches fossil fuel industry lobbyists, elected officials

I’ve never been involved in either of two trends that have exploded in recent years: internet dating, and lobbying of federal officials by fossil fuel-based energy-producing companies.  But I just learned about a new website that links the two.  The site, Polluter Harmony, says it “is the #1 matchmaking site for polluters, industry lobbyists, & politicians.” Although …

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China’s Problems, Our Problems

President Obama’s trip to China (noted here yesterday by Dan Farber) refocused world attention on China’s mushrooming contributions to global warming. Many have declared that China has eclipsed the United States as the number one emitter of greenhouse gases, and it is evident that its emissions grow by the day. Perhaps the most devastating examples …

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The New Top 40: Facing Up to the Worst Coal-Fired Powerplants

People are talking about it in emails and all over the blogosphere – it turns out that coal-fired electric power is not as cheap as many people want to think it is. In the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Congress directed the National Academy of Sciences to “define and evaluate key external costs and benefits—related …

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Duke Energy Leaves ACCCE But Who Remains?

Duke Energy, one of the largest electric utilities in the midwest and southeast and a prominent memeber of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership,  announced this week that it has quit the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.  ACCCE, as it is known, is a trade group recently exposed as the front group that sent bogus letters on …

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All Natural Gas Is Not Created Equal

In a recent blog, Dan Farber reports on a deal between ExxonMobil and a division of the China Natural Petroleum Corporation to bring Australian natural gas to China.  Dan expresses the hope that the introduction of so much natural gas will produce multiple benefits – carbon reductions since natural gas is better than coal, less …

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Who will pay for the costs of foreign carbon dioxide in our consumer goods?

I discussed in this post the problem of GHG emissions from imported consumer products.  We import and buy more and more goods from China and other countries that rely heavily on greenhouse gas-intensive coal-fired power.  As a result, our consumer habits are responsible for a large and growing proportion of GHG emissions in other countries.   These …

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Interior to pull mountaintop mining rule

UPDATE 4/29: AP reports that the Justice Department’s filing requests that the rule be vacated and remanded on the grounds that it was not preceded by ESA consultation. (Hat tip: PLF on ESA). Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced today that his department would ask the court hearing a challenge to a key Bush-era rule on …

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Chocolate Coated Coal?

The Associated Press reports that Lindt USA (that’s right, the chocolate company) and Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) served up a new form of fuel on Tuesday when they mixed 18 tons of crushed cocoa bean shells with 600 tons of coal to power an electric power plant.  The shells are a byproduct of chocolate production, …

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Two Cheers for Clean Coal

I think it’s terrific that the Coen Brothers are making funny, effective ads against relying on “clean coal” as part of the US energy program. But I worry that the clean energy community is really missing the boat here. Clean coal research and development is absolutely crucial in fighting climate change not for us, but …

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