Utilities, Miners Shocked, Shocked As AEP Bags CCS Plant - GOP Doesn't Care/Proposes More Tax Cuts

[hatrack]

EDIT

While there are other proposals and projects testing the concept of capturing and storing carbon in the United States, many are on new facilities and hold less significance for curbing greenhouse gases from older coal plants, analysts said. Coal plants emit about a third of U.S. carbon dioxide, and the technology of curbing their emissions has never been proved at scale. "I don't think the game is over for the carbon capture industry," said Mark Taylor, an energy analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. "But there is not another project like this on the horizon."

Mining workers in coal-rich states such as West Virginia expressed concerns that their jobs could be at risk eventually. Utilities will be under increasing pressure to switch from coal to natural gas because of new federal regulations on coal, and the industry had been counting on carbon capture as a savior for old coal plants, said Phil Smith of the United Mine Workers.

"This is a grave concern, frankly," he said of the utility's announcement.

EDIT

On the other side of the Capitol, there was less concern. Capturing carbon might be beneficial, at least economically, but it shouldn't be done at the government's behest, some lawmakers said. "I'm not really in favor of government subsidies for CCS or wind power or anything else," said Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Power. He supports private pursuit of CCS, because it can provide jobs in the coal sector -- but not because it addresses climate change, which he says human activity is barely affecting. "I think human activity is contributing to it, but I think the amount we're contributing is so small," he said yesterday. "For example, that big volcano eruption in the Philippines spewed more carbon dioxide in the world -- into the atmosphere -- than all the activity prior to that in human history. So yeah, I think human activity is contributing to it, but I don't think it's something to be so alarmist about."

EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/07/15/15climatewire-aep-move-to-stop-carbon-capture-and-sequestr-83721.html

[Jackpine Radical]

1. I love that line about volcanic CO2 dwarfing human activity.

Terrance Gerlach, a geochemist who has spent years researching erupting mountains at USGS’ Cascades Volcano Observatory, published a report reviewing five studies that examined the volcano-CO2 question. Those studies estimated that volcanoes’ global CO2 output range between 100 million and 500 million metric tons per year.

In contrast, the International Energy Agency reported recently that CO2 emissions from human energy consumption in 2010 totaled about 30.6 billion metric tons – some 60 to 300 times higher than volcanic emissions.

http://www.rep.org/opinions/weblog/weblog11-6-16.html

Somebody ought to turn these idiots in to Politico.

[Kolesar]

2. wow. I had no idea.

kick

[cprise]

3. NYT is happy to repeat erroneous claims that

...bolster their anti-AGW view.