http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/782d66f297be4bcb8f3294c8c759fbed/US--Mead-Coal-Plants
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead blasts EPA over proposal to require carbon
capture for new coal plants
By BEN NEARY Associated Press
May 09, 2014 - 7:23 pm EDT
CHEYENNE, Wyoming — Gov. Matt Mead of Wyoming, the nation's leading
coal-producing state, is calling on the head of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency to withdraw a proposal to require new coal-fired power
plants to employ carbon-capture technology.
EPA administrator Gina McCarthy proposed last fall to require new
coal-fired power plants to employ carbon capture and sequestration
technology, a process that involves intercepting emissions at the
smokestack and storing them underground. Friday was the last day for
comments on the rule, which could go into effect next year.
Mead wrote to McCarthy on Friday, the last day for comments on the
proposal, saying the EPA's proposed emissions standards for new
coal-fired plants are a threat to Wyoming's economy. He said the state
produces about 40 percent of the nation's coal while its coal industry
employs nearly 7,000 people with a $560 million payroll.
"Numerous air regulations have been proposed and promulgated to
eliminate use of the United States' leading source of low-cost, reliable
energy — coal," Mead wrote to McCarthy. "This proposal is yet one more
example. The proposed regulation will adversely impact Wyoming's economy
as the leading coal supplier to the United States. It lacks sound
reasoning, technological justification and will not provide regulatory
certainty."
Mead stated the EPA is misrepresenting the viability of the
carbon-capture technology, which he said has not been integrated and
proved for use at a commercial-scale coal power plant. The state has
mounted a series of lawsuits under Mead's tenure against recent EPA air
quality rules and regulations.
In testimony to a Senate committee earlier this year, McCarthy defended
the carbon-capture requirement.
"We looked at the data available. We looked at the technologies,"
McCarthy told the Senate Environment Committee in January. "We made a
determination that (carbon capture and storage technology) was the best
system for emission reductions for coal facilities moving forward,
because it was technically feasible and it would lead to significant
emission reductions."
An attempt to reach an EPA spokesman for reaction to Mead's comments was
not immediately successful on Friday.
Wyoming has seen its coal production dwindle in recent years as the
national demand for coal has fallen. Coal-plant construction has stopped
nationwide as a result of cheap natural gas and the Obama
administration's continuing focus on tougher standards to cut emissions
it blames for contributing to global warming.
Wyoming's coal production dropped from more than 430 million tons in
2011 to 385 million tons last year, according to a recent state report.
Wyoming didn't see any successful federal coal lease sales last year.
One scheduled sale received no bids, and the U.S. Bureau of Land
Management rejected the highest bid it received for another sale, saying
it was below market value.
Casting about for new markets, Mead has traveled to Asia and Australia
in recent months to explore the prospect of exporting coal from
Wyoming's Powder River Basin to Asian markets. That idea faces
opposition from many in the Northwest who don't relish the prospect of a
steady stream of coal trains rumbling through on their way to deep-water
coastal ports.
Travis Deti, assistant director of the Wyoming Mining Association, on
Friday applauded Mead's stand against the EPA proposal.
"We're very concerned that they're relying on technology that is not yet
viable or proven," Deti said of the EPA. "And we certainly believe that
it is a part of a bigger agenda and plan to eliminate coal as an
electric source all together."
Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy director with the environmental group
WildEarth Guardians in Denver, said Friday that Mead's opposition to
federal efforts to cut pollution from coal plants has become entirely
predictable. The group has challenged federal coal leasing practices in
the Powder River Basin.
"Given his comments, the subtext is (Mead) just doesn't want carbon
regulation, and that's just not going to fly," Nichols said. "Sorry,
Gov. Mead, but America wants carbon regulation and if Wyoming doesn't
like it, that's unfortunate."
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