World Bank to Limit Funding for Coal-Fired Power Stations. By Fiona Harvey, Guardian UK, 4/4/11. “The World Bank is planning to restrict the money it gives to coal-fired power stations, bowing to pressure from green campaigners to radically revise its funding rules. The new proposals would not mean an end to funding for fossil fuels, but would represent a departure from previous regulations. Under these rules, the bank has provided sizeable financial support for coal-fired power stations in the developing world in spite of protests from governments and green groups. Under the proposed new rules, only the very poorest countries would be eligible to receive grants or loans for building new coal-fired power stations, and then only if they could prove they were necessary and that alternatives -- such as renewable energy -- were not feasible.”

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Utilities' Emissions Suit Appeal. By James Vicini, Reuters, 12/6/10. “The U.S. Supreme Court said recently that it would hear an appeal by four big coal-burning utilities of a ruling that a group of states and New York City can proceed with a global-warming lawsuit seeking to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of the power companies. The justices agreed to review a ruling by a U.S. appeals court that reinstated a 2004 lawsuit by eight states, New York City and three land trusts claiming the utilities have created a public nuisance by contributing to global warming… The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case most likely in March, with a ruling expected by the end of June. It will be the most important environmental case of the term, and the biggest since the Supreme Court's ruling in 2007 that U.S. environmental officials can regulate greenhouse gas emissions.”

The Dark Lord of Coal Country. By Jeff Goodell, Rolling Stone, 11/29/10. “Unless you live in West Virginia, you've probably never heard of Don Blankenship. You might not know that he grew up in the coal fields of West Virginia, received an accounting degree from a local college, and, through a combination of luck, hard work and coldblooded ruthlessness, transformed himself into the embodiment of everything that's wrong with the business and politics of energy in America today -- a man who pursues naked self-interest and calls it patriotism, who buys judges like cheap hookers, treats workers like dogs, blasts mountains to get at a few inches of coal and uses his money and influence to ensure that America remains enslaved to the 19th-century idea that burning coal equals progress. And for this, he earns $18 million a year -- making him the highest-paid CEO in the coal industry -- and flies off to vacations on the French Riviera”… “OnDecember 3rd, a week after this article was published in Rolling Stone, Massey Energy announced that Don Blankenship will be retiring as CEO and chairman.”

E.U. Extends Coal Subsidies. By Pete Harrison, Reuters, 12/10/10. “Germany and other European coal-mining nations secured an extension of coal subsidies until 2018 after a months-long battle against environmentalists. The European Commission, the EU's executive, had proposed in July that the coal mining industry should only get four more years of state aid before subsidies are phased out in 2014, the sixth such extension of state aid since 1965. But with thousands of jobs on the line, Germany led other coal-mining countries such as Spain in pushing hard to extend subsidies to 2018, to fit around Berlin's own national laws. That battle was settled between EU ambassadors and commissioners at two meetings in Brussels on Dec. 8, with Germany getting its way.”

Coal Looms Large in Texas Governor's Race. By Christa Marshall, ClimateWire, 10/21/10. “The man vying to be Texas' first Democratic governor in more than a decade mentions the fossil fuel immediately when asked about the biggest difference between himself and Republican Gov. Rick Perry. ‘Rick Perry is for more coal-fired plants. I'm for more natural gas, renewables and energy efficiency,’ said White, a former three-term mayor of Houston and deputy secretary of energy, in a phone interview with ClimateWire. Nationally, White said he would like to see coal's usage drop from 50 to 35 percent, a decline he said could occur in a dozen years or sooner.

“White's comments come at a pivotal point in the Texas gubernatorial contest, where Perry is seeking a third term. With less than a month until Election Day, the race is considered a tossup by political analysts, [which] raises the possibility that White could be the first Democratic governor of Texas since Ann Richards left office in 1995… The energy ramifications of the race are huge, considering that Texas is by far the nation's biggest greenhouse gas emitter and one of its main energy producers. The state's carbon dioxide emissions are roughly [equal to] the combined output of the No. 2 and 3 CO2 spewers, California and Pennsylvania. Texas also leads the nation in the wind-powered generation capacity and consumes more electricity than any other state, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.”

Pipeline Plan Would Bury CO2 Under the Ocean off New Jersey. By Michael Miller, Atlantic City Press, 10/17/10. “An energy company wants to pump carbon dioxide under the ocean floor 70 miles off the New Jersey coast... SCS Energy LLC of Concord, Mass., wants to build a new coal-fired power plant on a former industrial site in Linden in Union County, near Staten Island. The company plans to separate carbon dioxide from the coal and pump the liquefied gas 138 miles away to a drilling platform off Atlantic City, where it conceivably could remain buried forever beneath the Atlantic Ocean…

“Environmentalists and some local residents say the [carbon capture and storage] technology is unproven and dangerous… SCS has two wells about 70 miles east of Atlantic City that would pump carbon dioxide 1.5 miles below the ocean floor, displacing seawater under multiple layers of shale and sandstone... Energy companies in the 1970s closely studied the geology of the continental shelf off Atlantic City when they were looking unsuccessfully for oil. Instead, Mascaro said, they drilled through layers of rock and sediment ‘perfect’ for capturing carbon dioxide.”

EPA Urges Revoking West Virginia Mountaintop Mining Permit. By John M. Broder, NYTimes, 10/16/10. “A top federal regulator has recommended revoking the permit for one of the nation’s largest planned mountaintop removal mining projects, saying it would be devastating to miles of West Virginia streams and the plant and animal life they support. In a report submitted last month and made public on Friday, Shawn M. Garvin, EPA regional administrator for the Mid-Atlantic, said that Arch Coal’s proposed Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County should be stopped because it ‘would likely have unacceptable adverse effects on wildlife.’

“In 2007, the Bush administration approved the project, which would involve dynamiting the tops off mountains over 2,278 acres to get at the coal beneath while dumping the resulting rubble, known as spoil, into nearby valleys and streams. The Obama administration announced last year that it would review the decision, prompting the mine owner, Arch Coal, based in St. Louis, to sue. In its review, the E.P.A. found that the project would bury more than seven miles of the Pigeonroost Branch and Oldhouse Branch streams under 110 million cubic yards of spoil, killing everything in them and sending downstream a flood of contaminants, toxic substances and life-choking algae. Kim Link, a spokeswoman for Arch Coal, said in a statement that the company intended to ‘vigorously’ challenge the recommendation. ‘If the E.P.A. proceeds with its unlawful veto of the Spruce permit -- as it appears determined to do -- West Virginia’s economy and future tax base will suffer a serious blow,’ Ms. Link said. She said the company planned to spend $250 million on the project, creating 250 jobs and tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues in a struggling region.”

World Bank Funding More Coal Plants than Ever. By Jack Duffy, NYTimes,10/11/10. “Once the coal-fired Medupi Power Station in Lephalale, South Africa, is fully operational in 2015, it will emit 26 million tons of carbon dioxide a year. And when the Tata Ultra Mega plant in western India is fully serviceable in 2012, its annual carbon dioxide emissions are expected to total 23.4 million tons. Both plants, which will rank among the world’s largest sources of greenhouse gases -- together producing about as much carbon dioxide as nations like Ireland and Norway -- are being built thanks to more than $4 billion in financing from the World Bank. The amount of money that the World Bank is lending for fossil fuel energy projects like these -- for coal in particular -- is rising faster than ever, even though it said only two years ago in a policy document that climate change posed one of the greatest threats to development in poor countries.

“According to the Bank Information Center, a Washington-based watchdog group, World Bank group funding for fossil fuel projects reached a record $6.3 billion in the fiscal year that ended in June, up from $1.6 billion in fiscal 2007. Funding for coal projects in 2010 was $4.4 billion, also a record, the group said… With 1.5 billion people worldwide living without access to electricity and many more whose energy services are either sporadic or cost-prohibitive, the World Bank has sought to fulfill its core mandate of alleviating poverty in part by increasing access to energy. But the bank is now finding itself under growing pressure to deliver that energy without an accompanying increase in carbon emissions.”

West Virginia Sues U.S. Over Mountaintop Removal Mining Restrictions. By Erik Eckholm, NYTimes, 10/7/10. “The state of West Virginia sued two federal agencies on Wednesday, seeking to reverse the stricter controls on mountaintop coal mining adopted in 2009 by the Obama administration. Governor Joe Manchin III said that the regulations were unlawful, usurped state rights, were based on inadequate science and harmed the state by preventing new mining projects. Announcing the suit against EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, Mr. Manchin, a Democrat, condemned what he called the Obama administration’s ‘attempts to destroy our coal industry and way of life in West Virginia.’ Mr. Manchin is now in a close race for the Senate seat left open by the death of Robert Byrd. His Republican opponent, John Raese, has accused him of wavering in his dedication to the coal industry, a mainstay of the state’s economy; Mr. Manchin has fiercely denied the charge. Wednesday’s announcement, made with the head of the coal association at his side, was an opportunity for Mr. Manchin to highlight his support for coal and to distance himself from President Obama.”

Spain Wins E.U. Approval to Subsidize Coal for 4 More Years. By James Kanter and Raphael Minder, NYTimes, 9/29/10. "The European Commission on Wednesday gave Spain permission to subsidize its domestic coal industry for four more years, prompting sharp criticism from environmental groups who said the measure risked damaging efforts to transition to cleaner energy. The measure was one of the most controversial decisions made so far by Joaquín Almunia, a former leader of the Spanish Socialists, since he took over as the E.U. commissioner for competition early this year. Spain was seeking to cushion conditions for workers in coal mines that are unprofitable and could face closure. The fate of the coal mines spiraled this month into a major labor dispute, with a group of miners in northern Spain staging a sit-in 500 meters, or 1,600 feet, underground to protest a failure to pay wages, while their colleagues held the third day of a nationwide strike. After news of the Brussels approval, the underground miners called off the sit-in. The Spanish government said the measure was necessary to ensure the security of electricity supply because the country remained insufficiently interconnected with other major European electricity markets, and because the country had a high share of wind and solar sources that deliver power intermittently. Coal is also a sensitive issue for the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero because the prime minister comes from the coal heartland of León."

Has the World's Peak-Coal Moment Arrived? By Patrick Reis, Greenwire, 9/29/10. "Is the world about to begin running out of coal? Two researchers say so. In a peer-reviewed article published in the journal Energy, they write that the world will hit 'peak coal' production next year or shortly thereafter, and then mining would begin a long, steep decline. Bottom line, say the paper's co-authors, Tadeusz Patzek, a University of Texas engineering professor, and Greg Croft, a St. Mary's College of California earth science professor, is that the 7 billion tons of coal the world is now mining and burning each year is about the best it can do. The pair's prediction is based on the 'Hubbert Cycle,' the resource-depletion theory that American geophysicist M. King Hubbert used in the 1950s to correctly forecast that U.S. oil production would peak two decades later. Patzek predicts coal will peak not because supplies are running out but because the remaining deposits are increasingly difficult to mine. Alaska's North Slope, for example, has coal reserves that rival those of the continental United States, but turning that coal into energy would be practically impossible, Patzek argues."

100 Plus Arrested at White House Demanding End to Mountaintop Removal. By Lacey Macauley, AppalachiaRising.org, 9/27/10. "More than 100 people were arrested Monday during Appalachia Rising, the largest national protest to end mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. Arrests included Appalachian residents; retired coal miners; renowned climate scientist, James Hansen; and faith leaders. After a march from Freedom Plaza and a rally at Lafayette Park, more than 100 stage a sit-in in front of the White House to demand President Obama follow his own science and end mountaintop mining. The likely charge is obstruction… 'The science is clear, mountaintop removal destroys historic mountain ranges, poisons water supplies and pollutes the air with coal and rock dust,' said Dr. Hansen, 'Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, can and should be abolished. The time for half measures and caving in to polluting industries must end.'… Appalachia Rising is being led by residents of West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee - Appalachian states directly impacted by mountaintop removal. They are calling for the Obama Administration to immediately abolish the practice of blowing up mountains and dumping the debris into nearby streams and valleys to reach seams of coal." Slide Show of Appalachia Rising Protest. Grist, 9/28/10.

Planned Coal Plant Generates Controversy in Texas. By Matthew Tresaugue, Houston Chronicle, September 25, 2010. "The idea had undeniable power at first: the cleanest coal-fired plant in Texas. But now, with the White Stallion Energy Center about to receive an air pollution permit from the state, many local officials and residents are having second thoughts -- even in the face of 12% unemployment... In and around Bay City, the county's hub, opponents are planting roadside signs showing a menacing monster billowing from smokestacks, with the rallying cry: 'Stop White Stallion Coal Plant'… Others see promise instead of peril. Supporters of the $3 billion proposal include officials at the Matagorda County Economic Development Corp., the Bay City Chamber of Commerce and the superintendent of the Bay City Independent School District. They say the plant would mean hundreds of jobs, higher incomes and better lives for some of the 38,000 people in the county… Coal is the dirtiest fuel for making electricity, but jobs are a big motivating factor in towns that are struggling. And that's why some folks think Randy Bird picked Bay City. 'We're simply too small, with no political clout, and hungry for economic development,' said Robert Malina, a retired professor who has led a local group called the No Coal Coalition."

Climate Activists in Australia Close Down World's Largest Coal Port. Reuters, September 26, 2010. "Australian climate change activists today [9/26/10] closed down operations at the world's largest coal port after entering its three terminals and attaching themselves to loaders, the terminal operator and the protesters said. The action by climate change group Rising Tide Australia stopped operations at all three terminals operated by Port Waratah Coal Services, which normally run continuously, a company spokesman said. Asked if all operations at the facility had been halted due to the action, a company spokesman told Reuters: 'Yes, that is correct. All operations have temporarily stopped.' Rising Tide said about 50 people in total were involved in the protest, some entering before dawn Sunday morning, abseiling down machinery and attaching themselves to loaders. Others demonstrated with banners. Spokeswoman Annika Dean said nine protesters attached themselves to infrastructure, calling it an 'emergency' action to highlight climate change, which she blamed for recent fires in Russia and floods in Pakistan."

Coal Miners Go to Washington to Protest Mountaintop Removal Regulations. By Ambreen Ali, Congress.org, September 15, 2010. "Hundreds of coal miners and their families gathered on Capitol Hill Wednesday [September 15] in an industry-led protest against regulation, while a smaller group of environmentalists held a counter-rally. The larger event -- sponsored by trade groups from Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and Ohio -- took aim at the Democrats' cap-and-trade plan and the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed greenhouse gas regulations. 'We're here to say to this administration, wisen up. Coal runs this country,' Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said, prompting a loud burst of cheers from the crowd. Rogers was one of a dozen lawmakers expected to speak at the event, most of whom hailed from coal-mining territory. Their message was clear: Coal runs the country, and it employs Americans. Most of the activists present wore identical blue shirts and held pre-printed signs calling on Congress to save coal jobs. Others said, 'This is a coal hard fact…. Coal keeps the lights on,' and, 'Coal miners love mountains, too.'"

Germany's Merkel Sets Stage for Nuclear Battle. By Simon Sturdee, AFP, September 6, 2010. "Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday hailed government proposals to postpone Germany's exit from nuclear power as a 'revolution,' setting up what one opposition MP called a 'fiery autumn' of protests. 'The government yesterday approved a far-reaching and sweeping concept for energy production in the coming decades, making our power generation the most efficient and most environmentally friendly in the world,' Merkel said Monday. 'This means that we need nuclear energy, as well as coal, as a bridge technology. I know that many people are very skeptical and critical of nuclear power, and we take these concerns completely seriously.'… Opposition parties and environmentalists have vowed to fight the planned extension in the lifetime of Germany's 17 nuclear reactors for an average of 12 years beyond the scheduled shutdown of around 2020… Even if the extension becomes law, the opposition Social Democrats (SPD), co-authors with the Greens of 2000's decision to exit nuclear power, said they will reverse Merkel's changes if they return to power."

German Coal Imports to Rise Despite Green Lobbying. By Vera Eckert and Jackie Cowhig, Reuters, September 2, 2010. "Germany's coal imports look set to increase until at least the middle of the decade, despite carbon pollution concerns and anti-coal lobbying that has succeeded in stopping many new coal-fired projects. Coal supplies 42% of German power, and as the economy accelerates, steelmakers and utilities are stepping up their use of imported coal."

Germany's Merkel Sets Stage for Nuclear Battle. By Simon Sturdee, AFP, September 6, 2010. "Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday hailed government proposals to postpone Germany's exit from nuclear power as a 'revolution,' setting up what one opposition MP called a 'fiery autumn' of protests. 'The government yesterday approved a far-reaching and sweeping concept for energy production in the coming decades, making our power generation the most efficient and most environmentally friendly in the world,' Merkel said Monday. 'This means that we need nuclear energy, as well as coal, as a bridge technology. I know that many people are very skeptical and critical of nuclear power, and we take these concerns completely seriously.'… Opposition parties and environmentalists have vowed to fight the planned extension in the lifetime of Germany's 17 nuclear reactors for an average of 12 years beyond the scheduled shutdown of around 2020… Even if the extension becomes law, the opposition Social Democrats (SPD), co-authors with the Greens of 2000's decision to exit nuclear power, said they will reverse Merkel's changes if they return to power."

German Coal Imports to Rise Despite Green Lobbying. By Vera Eckert and Jackie Cowhig, Reuters, September 2, 2010. "Germany's coal imports look set to increase until at least the middle of the decade, despite carbon pollution concerns and anti-coal lobbying that has succeeded in stopping many new coal-fired projects. Coal supplies 42% of German power, and as the economy accelerates, steelmakers and utilities are stepping up their use of imported coal."

Appalachia Rising: A National Protest in Washington, Sept. 27, to End Mountaintop Removal. Appalachia Rising, September, 2010. Appalachia Rising is a mass mobilization in Washington, DC, September 25-27, 2010, calling for an end to the devastating practice of mountaintop removal mining. Mountaintop removal has already destroyed over 500 of the world's oldest mountains and more than 2,000 miles of streams, and has contaminated our nation's waters. Together, we will bring Appalachia's cry to our nation's capital: We must end mountaintop removal and transform the economies of Appalachia away from destructive mining practices and toward clean-energy jobs and a sustainable and healthy future.

"The weekend includes two full days of strategizing workshops, learning, featured speaker panels and discussions, cultural events, and entertainment. On Monday, September 27, we will march, rally, and support individuals taking part in dignified non-violent civil disobedience against mountaintop removal mining. Join thousands of Appalachian and national leaders, policymakers, coalfield residents and miners, concerned citizens, activists, mountain groups, environmental justice organizations, and Americans from coast to coast for this momentous movement-building summit, gathering, and call to action. Hear the voices of those most impacted by mountaintop removal coal mining, and let your voice be heard in this movement to offer America hope for a better future."