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World Coal
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July 2015
Coal News
Coal News
A
number of coal industry groups
have responded to the recent
papal encyclical on climate change,
calling for recognition of coal’s role
in providing access to electricity for
the world’s poor and the role that
high‑efficiency low‑emission (HELE)
coal technologies can play in reducing
global carbon emissions.
“The Pope’s encyclical on climate change
offers the opportunity for the global
community to thoughtfully consider quality
of life issues and human betterment,” the
American Coal Council (ACC) said in a
press release. “Access to affordable energy
and electricity must be a primary objective.
At least 1.3 of the 7 billion people in the
world have no electricity access at all and
more than double that number have
inadequate access to it. Basic needs of clean
water, sanitation, medical care, lighting, and
warmth and cooling are impossible to meet
without electricity. Coal is a critical input for
meeting those needs, fuelling about 40% of
the world’s electricity.”
Meanwhile, Benjamin Sporton, CEO of
the World Coal Association (WCA), praised
the Pope for highlighting the “huge
challenge we face in reducing global CO
2
emissions”, but argued that this can only be
done if the world accepts that HELE coal
technologies – such as supercritical and
ultra-supercritcal power plants – are a key
part of the solution.
“If we are to significantly cut CO
2
missions, it is essential that we recognise the
vital role of coal in many countries and look
at ways to reduce emissions from coal use,”
Sporton said, noting that the International
Energy Agency forecasts coal use to grow
by about 33% by 2040. According to the
WCA, raising the average efficiency of the
global coal fleet from the current 33% to
40% would save 2 billion t of CO
2
emissions
– equivalent to India’s annual CO
2
emissions or running the Kyoto Protocol
three times over.
However, Bill Raney, President of the
West Virginia Coal Association, was less
charitable of the pontiff’s stance in a
response posted on the association’s
Facebook page.
“I agree with the Pope that mankind has
a duty to act as good stewards of this world
God has entrusted to our keeping,” Raney
said. “In my mind, that is doing everything
we can to ensure that everyone who can
physically work has a job, as opposed to
advocating policies that put skilled,
professional coal miners out of work. “
West Virginia has been one of the state’s
worst hit by the decline in coal industry
employment, losing 6700 jobs since 2011,
according to recent figures from SNL Energy.
Boone County alone has lost more than 2600,
the most of any county in the US.
“I wish Pope Francis would have
travelled to […] any of our West Virginia
counties where miners have been put out of
work because of the uncertainty created by
polices that mandate impossible
requirements that reach beyond today’s
technology,” Raney concluded. “The
suffering of that unemployment is vivid,
stark and extremely concerning.”
USA
Supreme Court rules EPA mercury regulations are unreasonable
INTERNATIONAL
Coal industry responds to papal encyclical on climate change
I
n 5-4 split decision against the US
Environmental Protection Agency’s
(EPA) Mercury and Air Toxics
Standards (MATS), the US Supreme
Court handed the US coal industry a
rare regulatory win – sending shares in
US coal mining companies soaring.
The court ruled that the EPA’s refusal
to consider the cost of compliance when
determining whether to regulate
emissions from coal‑fired power plants to
be unreasonable. “No regulation is
‘appropriate’ if it does more harm than
good,” said Justice Anthony Scalia,
writing for the majority.
The impact of the ruling may be
relatively moot, however: the compliance
deadline initially fell in April of this year,
meaning that utilities have already had
to make the necessary decisions around
compliance – with many choosing to
close plants. And the court did not reject
the rule outright but rather sent it back to
the EPA for revision.
“I think that’s one of the real
problems with the way this whole system
works,” Jeff Holmstead, an industry
attorney for Bracewell & Giuliani, told
SNL Energy earlier this year. “It is kind
of a shame there’s a rule that may be
illegal but people have to comply with
it.”
Yet there may be a significant
knock‑on impact on the EPA’s plans to
regulate carbon emissions: “The biggest
fallout will be to [Clean Power Plan]
compliance strategies,” Brian Walshe,
managing director of ION Consulting,
told Platts. “Many utilities will now be
forced to consider this ‘game of chicken’
strategy when CPP rules are announced,
due to the enormity of their impact.”
“We hope that with today’s ruling, the
EPA finally recognises there are limits on
its authority and takes the opportunity to
withdraw its harmful carbon rules,”
concluded Mike Duncan, President and
CEO of the American Coalition for Clean
Coal Electrity. “If they don’t, I’m sure
we’ll be seeing them in court again very
soon.”
