"EPA: Pruitt Was Headed To Ultra-Efficient Japanese Coal Plant"

"U.S. EPA boss Scott Pruitt last weekend was slated to visit a Japanese plant that claims to be the world's most efficient coal-fired power producer. It's also known for its good looks.

"It could be a country club, and it's a coal-fired power plant," said David Mohler, an Obama-era deputy assistant secretary for clean coal and carbon management at the Energy Department who says he shows pictures he took on a visit to the Isogo Thermal Power Station to people and challenges them to guess what it is.

"You can eat off the floor," he said. "There's no coal dust that escapes into the environment, because it's very self-contained. It's designed in a way that's meant to be aesthetically pleasing and clean from the get-go.""

Jean Chemnick and Niina Heikkinen report for ClimateWire January 23, 2018.