WASHINGTON (Sept 20, 2013)—The Environmental Protection Agency's restrictions on new coal and natural gas power plants meant to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change would be a disaster for western Maryland’s coal mining business, industry representatives said.
The new regulations, announced Friday by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, would allow new coal-powered plants to emit up to 1,100 pounds of carbon per megawatt-hour. Natural gas plants would be allowed to emit between 1,000 and 1,100 pounds of carbon per megawatt-hour, depending on their size.
“They’ll have a devastating effect on us because they want to eliminate the coal-powered plants, and all of their actions will do just that,” said Adrienne Ottaviani, the executive director of the Maryland Coal Association. “It will be probably more of the coal companies in Maryland closing their doors. They just can’t continue with the regulations being placed upon them.”
According to the latest annual report from the Maryland Bureau of Mines, mining companies employed 373 workers in Allegany and Garrett counties in 2011, producing about 3 million tons of coal that year. That number put Maryland 18th in the nation in total coal production.
But Environment Maryland, an environmental advocacy group based in Baltimore, said the regulations are necessary, as emissions from coal-powered plants are one of the chief drivers of global warming.
“In Maryland, 36 percent of our carbon emissions come from our top five power plants in the state, which is a lot,” said Talya Tavor, field associate for Environment Maryland. “And so we believe that we can do more to reduce our carbon emissions, and these standards seem to do exactly that.”
Tavor added that all of those power plants used coal as their primary fuel source.
According to a report from the state’s Climate Change Commission, global warming could be especially harmful for Maryland. The report says that by the end of the century, sea levels on Maryland’s coast could rise by two to six feet, potentially leading to real damage along the coast.
Rising ocean levels could submerge farms near the water while also forcing residents off of Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay.
EPA Administrator McCarthy said Friday that those sorts of consequences were the primary reason behind the new regulations.
“The overwhelming judgment of science tells us that climate change is real, that human activities are fueling that change, and we must take action to avoid the most devastating consequences of climate change,” McCarthy said. “This is one of the most significant public health threats of our time.”
Currently, coal-fired power plants emit about 1,800 pounds of carbon per megawatt-hour, according to the EPA - well above the new limits. No coal-fired plants are scheduled to open in Maryland in the future.
Howard Herzog, a senior research engineer for the MIT Energy Initiative, said with these new restrictions in place, the administration is shifting the country’s focus away from coal and towards natural gas-powered plants in the future.
“What these new regulations are doing is they’re forcing coal to reduce their emissions. But natural gas doesn’t have to reduce theirs,” Herzog said. “...The way the regulations are written, where you can basically use natural gas unconstrained, where you’re going to ratchet down on what coal can do, it seems like people are just going to go to the natural gas option.”
The Maryland Coal Association’s Ottaviani said that switch will lead to fewer and fewer coal-powered plants opening in the future, leading to less demand for her industry’s resources.
“The thing that scares me the most is that Washington continues to pass legislation or regulations through the EPA that require the coal industry to achieve different levels that are not attainable,” Ottaviani said. “But the technology is not there yet to help us do that. So even if we wanted to spend all the money we had to adhere to those levels of regulations, we can’t because the technology doesn’t exist to help us get there.”
Mike Duncan, president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, said in a statement this week that these new rules will halt development of new coal-powered plants by requiring standards that cannot be met.
“America deserves a balanced energy plan that includes continued advancements in clean coal technology, not one that crushes innovation and guarantees a diminished economic future,” Duncan said.
Developers of Maryland’s new natural gas-powered plants say they’re not worried about the new rules.
“It’s not going to affect us at all,” said Bill Pentak, a spokesman for Panda Power Funds, the Dallas-based group funding an 859-megawatt plant in Brandywine scheduled to open in 2017. “We’re using the best available control technology for the project. And as a matter of fact, we designed the plant in anticipation of this new rule as it was proposed.”
Currently, the average natural gas plant emits about 800 to 850 pounds of carbon per megawatt-hour, according to the EPA. That’s below the anticipated EPA guideline of between 1,000 and 1,100 pounds per megawatt-hour.
With even further advancements in carbon-capture technology for future plants, Pentak said emissions should be even lower.
David Hudgins, spokesman for the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, which is constructing an approximately 1,000-megawatt plant scheduled to open in Cecil County in 2017, agreed.
“It shouldn’t affect us,” Hudgins said. “And knock on wood, creek don’t rise, we don’t anticipate any regulatory problems.”
The new EPA regulations don’t apply to existing power plants, only new plants. However, the EPA’s McCarthy said the agency is planning to release a proposal restricting emissions from current plants in June 2014.
GOVERNOR O'MALLEY STATEMENT ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF A CARBON POLLUTION STANDARD FOR NEW POWER PLANTS
September 20, 2013
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Martin O’Malley today released the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement of a carbon pollution standard for new power plants:
“We in Maryland commend President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency for taking this important step forward to limit carbon pollution from future power plants. Power plants are the nation's largest source of carbon pollution, representing 34 percent of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. By targeting the number one source of greenhouse gas emissions, President Obama is moving the United States in the right direction toward strongly emphasizing renewable energy, improving air quality for our vulnerable populations, and mitigating the effects of severe weather events and flooding on our coastlines and low-lying areas. We are committed to partnering with him so that together, we can make the better choices these times demand.
“By making these better choices we are delivering better results. We recently released our Maryland Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan, a roadmap for how we move forward. Our Plan will create an estimated 37,000 jobs, generate $1.6 billion into Maryland’s economy, and enable us to achieve our goal of reducing greenhouse emissions 25 percent by 2020.
“The climate-related actions in the Plan show that we can use the prospect of a carbon constrained world as the means to invent a more prosperous future, to drive innovation, education, industry, jobs, and expansion of opportunity. We're reducing carbon pollution from our participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is generating revenues for investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, our Renewable Portfolio Standard and our energy efficiency goals.
“Working together with the utilities in our State, we've made the better choices to reduce harmful emissions. By investing approximately $2.6 billion in pollution controls to meet the requirements of the Healthy Air Act, Maryland utilities reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides by almost 70 percent and sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions by 80 percent since the first phase of the Maryland Healthy Air Act implementation.
“In Maryland, we know we have a moral obligation to our children and to our grandchildren to give to them a planet that is not on the trajectory that we currently find ourselves on; a planet that is becoming increasingly more damaged, more polluted, more unhealthy. The President’s plan is a commonsense approach that will protect public health from the impacts of climate change and spur growth by fostering innovation in cleaner energy technologies like wind power and solar.”
September 20, 2013
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Martin O’Malley today released the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement of a carbon pollution standard for new power plants:
“We in Maryland commend President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency for taking this important step forward to limit carbon pollution from future power plants. Power plants are the nation's largest source of carbon pollution, representing 34 percent of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. By targeting the number one source of greenhouse gas emissions, President Obama is moving the United States in the right direction toward strongly emphasizing renewable energy, improving air quality for our vulnerable populations, and mitigating the effects of severe weather events and flooding on our coastlines and low-lying areas. We are committed to partnering with him so that together, we can make the better choices these times demand.
“By making these better choices we are delivering better results. We recently released our Maryland Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan, a roadmap for how we move forward. Our Plan will create an estimated 37,000 jobs, generate $1.6 billion into Maryland’s economy, and enable us to achieve our goal of reducing greenhouse emissions 25 percent by 2020.
“The climate-related actions in the Plan show that we can use the prospect of a carbon constrained world as the means to invent a more prosperous future, to drive innovation, education, industry, jobs, and expansion of opportunity. We're reducing carbon pollution from our participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is generating revenues for investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, our Renewable Portfolio Standard and our energy efficiency goals.
“Working together with the utilities in our State, we've made the better choices to reduce harmful emissions. By investing approximately $2.6 billion in pollution controls to meet the requirements of the Healthy Air Act, Maryland utilities reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides by almost 70 percent and sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions by 80 percent since the first phase of the Maryland Healthy Air Act implementation.
“In Maryland, we know we have a moral obligation to our children and to our grandchildren to give to them a planet that is not on the trajectory that we currently find ourselves on; a planet that is becoming increasingly more damaged, more polluted, more unhealthy. The President’s plan is a commonsense approach that will protect public health from the impacts of climate change and spur growth by fostering innovation in cleaner energy technologies like wind power and solar.”