The Environmental Protection Agency will issue the first limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants as early as Tuesday, according to several people briefed on the proposal. The move could end the construction of conventional coal-fired facilities in the United States.
The proposed rule — years in the making and approved by the White House after months of review — will require any new power plant to emit no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt of electricity produced. The average U.S. natural gas plant, which emits 800 to 850 pounds of CO2 per megawatt, meets that standard; coal plants emit an average of 1,768 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt.
“This standard effectively bans new coal plants,” said Joseph Stanko, who heads government relations at the law firm Hunton and Williams and represents several utility companies. “So I don’t see how that is an ‘all of the above’ energy policy.”
Fewer coal plants equals less supply of electricity equals higher prices for electricity. That's Economics 101, and even Obama understands it. The problem is: that's actually what he wants. Remember this?
Fewer coal plants. Less drilling on federal lands and off-shore. No new nuclear plants. No new oil refineries. We are putting ourselves on a path, not just to energy dependence, but to energy scarcity, which would mean an end to the standard of living we've grown accustomed to in America.
Oh, but won't we get energy from "alternative" and "green" technologies?
Don't bet on it.