"Trump Moves to Lift Hurdle to Coal Plants No One Wants to Clear"

"The Trump administration wants to remove a key barrier to constructing new coal-fired power plants in the U.S. -- but don’t expect any utilities to actually build them.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed easing Obama-era limits on carbon dioxide emissions from new and modified coal power plants, including a change that would remove a de facto requirement to use expensive carbon-capture technology at the sites.

“EPA’s proposal would rescind excessive burdens on America’s energy providers and level the playing field so that new energy technologies can be part of America’s future,” Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a news release.

The carbon-capture requirement EPA is seeking to remove is one obstacle to building coal power plants, though economic and market realities have created much higher hurdles that analysts say will endure no matter what the Trump administration does."

Jennifer A Dlouhy reports for Bloomberg December 6, 2018.

SEE ALSO:

"EPA Announces Plan To Ease Carbon Emissions Rule For New Coal Plants" (Washington Post)

"Climate: EPA: New Rule Based On 'Data,' Not 'Wishful Thinking'" (Greenwire)

"E.P.A. Will Ease Path to New Coal Plants" (New York Times)
 

Source: Bloomberg, 12/07/2018