Press
- Parent Category: News
New research finds that wind farms actually warm up the surface of the land underneath them during the night, a phenomenon that could put a damper on efforts to expand wind energy as a green energy solution.
Researchers used satellite data from 2003 to 2011 to examine surface temperatures across as wide swath of west Texas, which has built four of the world's largest wind farms. The data showed a direct correlation between night-time temperatures increases of 0.72 degrees C (1.3 degrees F) and the placement of the farms.
"Given the present installed capacity and the projected growth in installation of wind farms across the world, I feel that wind farms, if spatially large enough, might have noticeable impacts on local to regional meteorology," Liming Zhou, associate professor at the State University of New York, Albany and author of the paper published April 29 in Nature Climate Change said in an e-mail to Discovery News.
Read more: Wind Farms Are Warming the Earth, Researchers Say
- Parent Category: News
Group issues scathing review of Obama EPA’s record of job destruction
CHARLESTON – A report by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) – an association of state legislators – says the Obama EPA is out of control and is “creating regulatory chaos, stagnating investment … [and] destroying jobs.”
“During the past couple of years, the [EPA] has undertaken the most expansive regulatory assault in history on the production and distribution of affordable and reliable energy,” the ALEC researcher team says. “As of 2010, EPA regulations promulgated under the Obama Administration had already surpassed the Agency’s regulatory output in the entire first term of Bill Clinton, which was a period in which the EPA had just been handed broad new powers. With 30 major regulations and more than 170 policy rules still being finalized in the next five years, the extent of EPA’s actions could surpass its entire 40-year history of regulation.”
- Parent Category: News
We have an urgent national priority: moving forward with the development and demonstration of energy-efficient technologies that would enable America to burn fossil fuels more cleanly and cheaply.
With the outlook dimming for nuclear power and renewable energy sources, there are growing concerns that efforts to maintain air quality and combat global warming will fail as energy production increases in the years ahead.
- Parent Category: News
By Pam Kasey
With its bill delegating the regulation of coal ash to the states stalled in the Senate, the House of Representatives added it on April 18 as an amendment to the Surface Transportation Extension Act.
"After fighting hard on this issue for over a year, I'm grateful for my colleagues' support," said Rep. David B. McKinley, R-W.Va., original sponsor of the coal ash bill. "The chance to save thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in costs now rests in the Senate's hands."
The House transportation extension, which would extend funding from the federal Highway Trust Fund through September, is the House's response to a Senate transportation bill.
The measure was approved by a vote of 293-127, with West Virginia's three representatives in voting in favor.
Read more: McKinley Coal Ash Bill Added to Transportation Bill as Amendment
- Parent Category: News
The Friends of Coal is once again joining with the West Virginia Radio Corporation and MetroNews to sponsor the WV Scholars Program. Friends of Coal will be the title sponsor of the scholarship program. The program is a full, four-year scholarship covering the cost of tuition, fees, room and board at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Valued at $125,000, the scholarship will be awarded to one lucky student from West Virginia who is currently a member of the junior class in high school.
You can apply for the scholarship by going to www.wvmetronews.com and click on the “Apply Now” button for the complete program details.
- Parent Category: News
By Tom Wolf
Executive Director, Energy Council Illinois Chamber of Commerce
There’s a great scene in the 1983 movie classic Mr. Mom where Michael Keaton’s character is dropping off the kids at school and they’re yelling at him, “Dad! You’re doing it wrong!” Keaton doesn’t listen and gets chastised by the volunteer Mom who simply deadpans “You’re doing it wrong.”
It’s no surprise that movie memory comes to my mind when it comes to the Obama Administration’s attempt to regulate the future world of energy – specifically coal generation. In my mind they are simply doing it wrong. I think this for many reasons, including:
- Parent Category: News
By Brian Keane
President, SmartPower
The Bush Administration and, yes, the Obama Administration, have both acknowledged that coal will continue to be a vital and valuable piece of our energy portfolio. After all, our nation is sitting on 500 years worth of coal – we’re not likely to just ignore it.
But at the same time, the President is focused on diversifying our nation’s energy portfolio. This isn’t designed to kill coal, but rather to increase the production of other types of energy. The strategy is not simply to replace one type of energy for another. At the rate Americans use energy, the reality is that we simply need more energy to power our lives, our communities and our nation.
- Parent Category: News
The Friends of Coal Wish You a Happy Easter and a Joyous Passover.
- Parent Category: News
By Hal Quinn
President, National Mining Association
What’s Really Causing Coal’s Decline?
Let’s start by correcting the premise. The simplest answer to the question posed by The National Journal this week is “hyperbole” is behind the talk of coal’s “decline”. Like Mark Twain’s quip about his own demise, the news of coal’s decline is greatly exaggerated. It is, nonetheless, the cause for legitimate concern among those who value affordable electricity from a secure and abundant domestic energy source. So, let’s look at the question from a more dispassionate perspective.
First of all, the “decline-of-coal” that is now the subject of inside-the-Beltway chatter is very relative. From generating virtually half the nation’s electricity for a decade, coal is now generating 40 percent-plus. And with a 260-year supply of domestic coal under our feet, Americans will be relying on coal for the foreseeable future. That’s why the EIA’s most recent Outlook projects renewed growth in 2013.