Many coal-fired power plants still being built, despite concerns about greenhouse gases

An Associated Press review of Department of Energy records found that 30 traditional coal-fired power plants have been built since 2008 or are currently under construction. The dozens of new old-style coal plants "will cement the industry's standing as the largest industrial source of climate-changing gases for years to come," Matthew Brown reports for AP. "The construction wave stretches from Arizona to Illinois and South Carolina to Washington, and comes despite growing public wariness over the high environmental and social costs of fossil fuels."

The expansion marks the industry's larges in two decades and "represents an acknowledgment that highly touted "clean coal" technology is still a long ways from becoming a reality," Brown writes. Severin Borenstein, director of the Energy Institute at the University of California-Berkeley, explained, "Building a coal-fired power plant today is betting that we are not going to put a serious financial cost on emitting carbon dioxide. That may be true, but unless most of the scientists are way off the mark, that's pretty bad public policy."

"Utilities say they are clinging to coal because its abundance makes it cheaper than natural gas or nuclear power and more reliable than intermittent power sources such as wind and solar," Brown writes. "Still, the price of coal plants is rising and consumers in some areas served by the new facilities will see their electricity bill rise by up to 30 percent." Combined, the 16 plants that have gone online since 2008 and 16 more under construction will produce an estimated 17,900 megawatts of electricity, sufficient to power up to 15.6 million homes, Brown reports. The plants are projected to produce 125 million tons of greenhouse gases annually. DOE spokesman John Grasser acknowledged the new plants represent a missed chance to rein in carbon emissions, but told Brown of reducing coal's role in the energy market, "This is not something that's going to happen tomorrow. You have to do the required research and development and take steps along the way." (Read more)