First of all, I know a hell of a lot about coal fired power plants. My father spent 20 years working at them and I have worked in and around them myself. I know exactly what comes out of the stacks... and what doesn't. Environmentalists use scare tactics that are full of crap. It's the leftist thing to do. Try to get all of us "Joe Sixpack" types to believe that the mean old corporation is killing us and the only way to save our children is by shutting down industry through the elimination of profit. The government will protect us all. We don't need those silly old jobs. Just give all of the profit to the government so they can distribute it out to us as they see fit. After all, they know what's best for us.
There are four coal fired units where I live. People here live a very long time. My two children are very healthy and happy. I have lived here my whole life and my lungs work just fine. There are scrubbers on the units and the air quality in this town is far better than any metroplex you want to compare numbers with. There aren't any billionares around here, but there are a whole lot of good people making an honest living working in and around the industry. I don't feel that dependent upon it as a Systems Analyst. I can... and have earned a very good living in other industries as well. But there are thousands of people in my area who depend on it to feed their kids. Environmentalist could care less about that.
Another important point I would like to make is that you completely misrepresent what I said. I never said that companies would spend millions on environmental equipment if there weren't rules requiring them. Reasonable and responsible rules must exist. I know the company I work for strives to exceed the requirements and emit as little as possible. There are technical developments unfolding that bring us closer and closer to zero emmissions. But let's give up the evangelical chant that all of the fish have three eyes, nothing grows, the children are dying, and nobody lives past the ripe old age of 40. That is a complete farse. I don't know where the EPA got the data you are quoting but they didn't get it from here and our plants have been running for over 50 years. Environmentalists have no concept of the point of diminishing returns. The fact is that you can install a reasonable amount of equipment and have every low emmissions with no environmental impact. That's not good enough though. They want it all shut down.
I don't know where you get that garbage about the Clean Air Act being the driving environmental force in California. That's another load of crap. CA has environmental laws that FAR exceed the federal guidelines for every type pollutant there is. CA durable goods industries would love to be able to simply follow federal guidelines. I am sure of that. How many people have purchased a weed eater, lawn mower, or chainsaw that says explicitly that it isn't for use in California? You and I do agree on one thing... the Clean Air Act has nothing to do with California's woes. I would also like to know what OPEC has to do with coal fired power generation? That flies in the face of your argument.
The reason OPEC is influencing electric utility costs is because many plants are burning natural gas. They burn it because it's cleaner and therefore easier to comply with emmissions laws. As it turns out, that has proven to be a double edged sword... hasn't it?
I claim no knowledge of California's rolling blackout problems. However, I have worked at coal fired power plants and I do work in the manufacturing industry (durable goods).
When law after law gets passed and it becomes $500 million more to build a plant, nobody builds them. It's very simple. Companies must make profits and you can't make one trying to cost out that much scrubbing hardware. The numbers don't work. Eventually, you'll wind up with a lot less capacity than you have demand for.
Many posters have already commented that it's time to "pay the piper". I agree. When you have to find a way to build the plant so that the only thing coming out of the stack is water vapor, you will also find that it is a fiscal and physical impossibility.
It makes a lot more business sense to build your plant in another state where you can install a reasonable amount of emmissions equipment such that your plant has no environmental impact. It seems as though any manufacturing plant or automobile built or sold in CA must replenish the ozone layer or it is explicitly illegal.
Environmentalists can sit out on their front porches on those dark nights and look at the stars while taking in some of that fresh clean air. You better not let anyone catch you burning a candle and reading a book! Those things emit carbon monoxide.
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There are four coal fired units where I live. People here live a very long time. My two children are very healthy and happy. I have lived here my whole life and my lungs work just fine. There are scrubbers on the units and the air quality in this town is far better than any metroplex you want to compare numbers with. There aren't any billionares around here, but there are a whole lot of good people making an honest living working in and around the industry. I don't feel that dependent upon it as a Systems Analyst. I can... and have earned a very good living in other industries as well. But there are thousands of people in my area who depend on it to feed their kids. Environmentalist could care less about that.
Another important point I would like to make is that you completely misrepresent what I said. I never said that companies would spend millions on environmental equipment if there weren't rules requiring them. Reasonable and responsible rules must exist. I know the company I work for strives to exceed the requirements and emit as little as possible. There are technical developments unfolding that bring us closer and closer to zero emmissions. But let's give up the evangelical chant that all of the fish have three eyes, nothing grows, the children are dying, and nobody lives past the ripe old age of 40. That is a complete farse. I don't know where the EPA got the data you are quoting but they didn't get it from here and our plants have been running for over 50 years. Environmentalists have no concept of the point of diminishing returns. The fact is that you can install a reasonable amount of equipment and have every low emmissions with no environmental impact. That's not good enough though. They want it all shut down.
I don't know where you get that garbage about the Clean Air Act being the driving environmental force in California. That's another load of crap. CA has environmental laws that FAR exceed the federal guidelines for every type pollutant there is. CA durable goods industries would love to be able to simply follow federal guidelines. I am sure of that. How many people have purchased a weed eater, lawn mower, or chainsaw that says explicitly that it isn't for use in California? You and I do agree on one thing... the Clean Air Act has nothing to do with California's woes. I would also like to know what OPEC has to do with coal fired power generation? That flies in the face of your argument.
The reason OPEC is influencing electric utility costs is because many plants are burning natural gas. They burn it because it's cleaner and therefore easier to comply with emmissions laws. As it turns out, that has proven to be a double edged sword... hasn't it?