Michael Bloomberg pumps $500 million into bid to close all US coal plants

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

September 20, 2023 12:54 PM EDT


UNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Wednesday he will pump $500 million into the next phase of his energy transition campaign, aiming to shut down "every last" coal plant in the United States and slash gas-fired capacity in half by 2030.

The $500 million infusion into his decade-long Beyond Carbon initiative aims to "finish the job on coal" by working with state and local organizations to force the closure of the roughly 150 coal plants that have not yet retired, slash current gas generation in half and block the construction of new gas-fired plants.

Bloomberg already has spent over $500 million to support the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, which originally aimed to retire 30% of the U.S. coal fleet by 2020. The campaign ended up accelerating the retirement of over 60% of coal plants by that year and putting $85 million toward a similar mission to fight the expansion of petrochemical plants in the U.S.

"By working with our partners across the country, we hope to transform the way we power America by moving beyond fossil fuels and replacing them with renewable energy," said Bloomberg, who is the U.N. Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions. The money would support litigation brought against utilities and power companies by grassroots groups, state and local policy advocacy and financing to assist local communities with coal plant closures, Bloomberg Philanthropies said.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/michael-bloomberg-pumps-500-million-into-bid-close-all-us-coal-plants-2023-09-20/

[Traildogbob]

1. Hmmmm

Manchin gonna stroke. 😊

[brush]

2. Heehee. Yep, Manchin the perpetual pain in the ass to us Dems.

Hard to root for him to keel over as his seat will just become a republican one...not that he's helping Dems all the time.

Bloomberg stays in the game though, keeps doing good things, unlike the other ego-driven, exhibitionist "space explore" billionaires of late, competing against each other to show who can display the most wealth.

I expect Bloomberg will help keep Biden in the WH too during the '24 campaign.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Well Bloomberg is the 7th wealthiest according to Forbes

(just behind Bill Gates, who has been shoveling his money out the door into his foundation)

https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/

So Manchin can stroke all he wants but Bloomberg is like 10 slots ahead of the Kochs.

[Traildogbob]

6. I am all for his possible stroke

How many black lung coal workers have died from strokes while Manchin lives it up on his yacht?

[BumRushDaShow]

7. And the GOP

keeps wanting to cut any kind of financial assistance and healthcare associated with that.

[truthisfreedom]

4. Coal emits twice as much CO2 as natural gas

…when producing the same amount of electricity.
Burning coal, besides being an extremely dirty pollutant, emits far more CO2 than any other fossil fuel when comparing equivalent energy output. We should have stopped using it years ago.
Why is it used? One big reason is that gas fired power plants need dedicated pipelines which aren’t always practical. Coal can be delivered by rail or barge. I suppose liquid natural gas could be delivered that way if a pipeline couldn’t be built, but why build them when we are just going to abandon them eventually anyway? We need cheap reliable electrical storage. Battery breakthroughs are welcome!

[BumRushDaShow]

10. "Coal can be delivered by rail or barge. I suppose liquid natural gas could be delivered that way"

They do deliver it by tanker trains in many cases here.

There were plans here in PA to send the fracked stuff over to Jersey (which didn't go over well) -

Plan to send LNG trains through Philly to S. Jersey port sparks outrage from residents, environmentalists

by Andrew Maykuth
Published Sep. 20, 2020, 6:00 a.m. ET | Updated 6:29 a.m. ET


Environmentalists have stepped up alarms about a major fuel export terminal in South Jersey that they say will accelerate Pennsylvania fracking, worsen climate change, and attract 100-car trains carrying dangerous liquefied natural gas across Philadelphia. A plan to build the Gibbstown Logistics Center in Gloucester County, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia International Airport, appears to be coming to a head by the end of the year.

A hearing examiner and the staff of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) have recommended approving permits to dredge the river and to build a pier for the $450 million private port, which is being built on the site of DuPont’s former Repauno Works in Greenwich Township. The DRBC, an interstate agency that regulates river development, voted on Sept. 10 to delay a decision at least until its next business meeting in December. But the commission will be hard-pressed to reverse its unanimous approval last year of the project, which has also received permits from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“We are confident that after the commissioners complete their review of the record they will concur with the hearing officer’s recommendations and reaffirm their prior approval," Jeff Sheridan, a spokesperson for the terminal’s developer, Delaware River Partners LLC, said in a statement. “The project has been through extensive environmental and regulatory review processes and has received approval from multiple federal, state and local agencies,” said Sheridan. "When the project begins, it will provide much needed job opportunities and significant growth to the local tax base.”

The private port is designed for multiple purposes — to receive imported automobiles or as a potential staging area for companies to erect and service wind turbines off New Jersey’s shore. But primarily it is designed for exporting liquid fuels extracted by fracking in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale gas region.

(snip)

https://www.inquirer.com/business/philadelphia-lng-gibbstown-new-fortress-energy-port-drbc-fracking-trains-20200920.html

[NickB79]

15. Only on paper. In the real world, natural gas is as bad if not worse than coal

Because natural gas doesn't just emit greenhouse gas when burned; it also emits it when drilled, piped, and transferred. When you account for the methane leakage issue of natural gas (and it's widespread globally), it becomes little better than coal.

But wait, there's more!

Coal's dirty burn has a silver lining in regard to climate change. It's sulfur emissions that create acid rain, also act as a solar reflector, offsetting a bit of the warming from it's carbon emissions. It's why one of the proposed geoengineering fixes for climate change is to intentionally spray sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere, buying us time before climate change destroys civilization.

In fact, one of the proposed reasons why we've seen global temps spike in the past few years, beyond what the models were predicting, is because the drop in atmospheric aerosols like sulfur dioxide from shuttered coal plants and reduced shipping on the ocean.

When you factor that in, natural gas is equivalent to coal:

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/14/1187648553/natural-gas-can-rival-coals-climate-warming-potential-when-leaks-are-counted

That finding holds even if leaks amount to a tiny fraction of the methane in the country's gas production and supply system, as low as 0.2%, according to the researchers. The paper highlights recent surveys that found leak rates far above that, of "0.65% to 66.2%."

The study takes into account all stages of production and uses for both gas and coal in making the comparison. Researchers included in their calculations one counterintuitive effect of burning coal – it releases sulfur dioxide, which produces particles that reflect sunlight and actually reduce warming (sulfur dioxide pollution also can lead to heart and lung problems). Researchers also took into account the fact that coal production leaks methane.

Long story short: we should be eliminating coal AND natural gas plants, not merely replacing coal with more natural gas.

[mopinko]

16. arent they mostly peaker plants?

peaker plant can easily b replace by solar. it’s the perfect match for heat and ac.
the sun is always shining at the extremes. keep a bldg from heating up all day, it’s cool at night. if it’s rly cold, there r no clouds.
i just flipped my 2flat rental to all elec/solar. nice old greystone. i expect $20 elec bills, no matter what. and i get a better rent cuz i save my tenants money.

[vapor2]

5. this will piss off Manchin

[bucolic_frolic]

8. Ambitious even for a multi-billionaire

150 coal plants

50% reduction gas generation

[GenXer47]

9. Gates, Musk, Bezos...just pay off the miners for the rest of their lives

How much can a West Virginian miner make? $40k?
This is where the tech gods need to step up. Pay off the coal families! Every last one!

[Wingus Dingus]

17. I was under the impression mining paid pretty well, which is why

they risk their health and safety to keep doing it.

[MadameButterfly]

11. i hope he's ok being a climate hero

and doesn't use this to buy the presidency some day

[BumRushDaShow]

12. He funds gun-control initiatives too (and candidates that support it)

and did try to run for President - literally in 2020 as a Democrat. And he has a discussion Group here on DU from that time here - https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1310

It was sparsely used but is still there to peruse.

But he did buy his 3rd term in the previously 2-term limited NYC mayoral race.

[MadameButterfly]

18. he bought his first term as mayor

He flooded the campaign with exponentially more money that that race had ever seen. No one saw it coming. Charities that were beholden to him felt they had to support him--who would have naturally gone for Mark Green, the long time liberal who was favored in the race before the cash dump.

When he ran for President he again spent exponentially more money than any other candidate. i wish the DNC would make rules against that kind of spending. If he hadn't been allowed into the debates (despite not meeting the criteria) and if Elizabeth Warren had not made mincemeat of him, or if he had been even a little dynamic as a speaker, we might have President Bloomberg right now.

[BumRushDaShow]

19. Being in Philly and following NY politics

Bloomberg didn't just buy his first term, he actually "bought a Charter Change" in the city to allow him to run for a 3rd term. So he was mayor for 12 years.

But he had generally been all over the map "politically". During his 3 terms as mayor, he ran first as a Republican and then switched to be an Independent at the latter part of the 2nd term to prepare for that final one after he changed the Charter. He became a Democrat a decade later.

But when you have that kind of money, parties are irrelevant!

I don't think he has that kind of "national" political voting base though. His thing is "business", with "politics" being a side show.

[Bayard]

13. Very commendable!

[Scrivener7]

14. That man. Half the time I want to hug him and half the

time I want to smack him.

[sybylla]

20. I'd be thrilled if he only managed to get rid of half of them.

I am quite disturbed to receive an email from my rural electric coop putting the knuckle-dragger in rural as they claimed that because the August heat wave was mitigated by using primarily coal, that we can't ever get rid of coal. Idjits.

What they fail to understand is that a heat wave like that doesn't happen without SUN. JFC.