Earth Equity News

The Growing De Facto Moratorium on Coal. By Lester R. Brown and Jonathan G. Dorn, Celsias Blog, April 10, 2008. "The era of coal-fired electricity generation in the U.S. may be coming to a close... What began as a few local ripples of resistance... quickly evolving into a national tidal wave... Growing concern over pending legislation to regulate carbon emissions is creating uncertainty in financial markets. Leading financial groups are now downgrading coal stocks and requiring utilities... to include a cost for carbon emissions when proving economic viability. On March 11... Representative Henry Waxman of California introduced a bill to ban new coal-fired power plants without carbon emissions controls nationwide until federal regulations are put in place to address greenhouse gas emissions. If Congress passes this bill, it will deal a death blow to the future of U.S. coal-fired power generation. Yet even without a legislative mandate... the contraction in financial support... is escalating toward a de facto moratorium. The timeline that follows is witness to what may well be the beginning of the end of coal-fired power in the U.S." [Lester Brown is president of the Earth Policy Institute.]