The Town EPA Says Must Close
"So if somebody wants to build a coal-fired plant they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them…”
– Barack Obama speaking to San Francisco Chronicle, January 2008
http://thedailyaccount.com/The-Town-EPA-Says-Must-Close.htmlFor once President Barack Obama has kept a campaign promise.
The town of Craig, CO with a population of 10,000 is dependent on the energy business that powers over 50 percent of Craig, Colorado’s economy, and makes the small town, which is home to one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the nation, a microcosm of the fight over green energy mandates versus traditional fuel sources. Craig Station is a key base load resource providing a total of 655 megawatts of relatively low-cost, reliable generation. Operated by Tri-State, approximately 300 people work at the 1,311-megawatt plant. The onslaught of federal and state regulations on coal energy is causing this town economic hardship. Many do not realize that policy has direct consequences on individual lives
The Local Craig industries are dependent on the coal plant, having stayed afloat through the recession because of the growing need for energy. Alternative energy companies aim to capitalize on that growing energy market, and renewable energy mandates from the state government help the green energy industry’s case by forcing companies to diversify the sources they produce their power from.
The coal plant in Craig complies with strict environmental regulations set by both the state and federal environmental protection agencies. Water vapor from the plant passes through a scrubbing system that removes 90 percent of chemicals and another filter washes out 99 percent of the ash. Nevertheless, despite a record of EPA compliance, the Craig power plant might be negatively impacted by renewable energy mandates that Colorado and nineteen other state legislatures have adopted — state law mandates that 30 percent of energy generated in the state comes from renewable sources by 2020. That is a problem for Craig, where coal is by far the greatest employer.
This mandate was established by left wing, tree-hugging bureaucrats without any thought to doable technology. We are well aware renewable energy (Wind & Solar) are a long way away from being reliable not to mention expensive. The EPA mandate makes no sense on many levels, but the bureaucrat’s ideology blinds them.
Let’s take a look at Craig Colorado
With a growing demand for energy, and the assumption the mandates will stay in force, leaves us with two very serious problems. First, since renewable energy is unreliable we could incur intermittent power disruptions or blackouts. Second, the cost is going to necessarily skyrocket. Both of these need not happen.
Thirty two coal-fired power plants in a dozen states will be forced to shut down because of the new federal air pollution regulations and the renewable energy mandates. This will amount to 33 Gigawatts taken off line with an estimated job loss of 150,000 per year from 2012 to 2020.
As you saw from the video, the job loss has already started. It has started in Craig Colorado and will spread throughout the country. This is especially disturbing in light of the high unemployment in the United States. This is horrible policy. Unfortunately this administration is plowing forward, common sense be damned. This administration, which gave the nod to the EPA, doesn’t care about the people in Craig or you.
Other countries have pursued alternative energy policies with little success. Three European examples should make Americans think twice about renewable energy mandates: Denmark maintains the highest energy prices in Europe, where the price of electricity is “three times that of the U.S;” Germany isn’t far behind, as “renewable subsidies in Europe were lavish and now they are being rolled back because they are not sustainable;” and Spain represents the greatest model for concern, as IER found “that for every green job created, the economy lost 2.2 jobs as an opportunity cost.”
Frank and Kerrie Moe of Craig, Colorado are two small business owners fighting for economic survival because new federal and state regulations on energy production and electricity generation have threatened the livelihood of the entire community they live in.
The twist to this story is that Frank and Kerrie Moe do not work in the energy business. Do You?
