coal

November 12, 2019

Late yesterday, the New York Times reported that former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler is preparing to significantly limit the scientific and medical research that the government can use as it sets public health safeguards.

November 8, 2019

A federal judge blocked the 2,000-acre expansion of a coal mine in the wildlands of Colorado’s Gunnison National Forest today, ordering the Trump administration to consider limiting methane emissions and address potential harm to water and fish.

November 4, 2019

Former coal lobbyist and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler capitulated twice to his former employers in the coal industry today by rolling back important clean water protections against dumping industrial sludge into our waterways and properly disposing of coal ash.

November 3, 2019

Former coal lobbyist and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced another rollback of a key water toxics safeguard today -- a move that would allow the vast majority of coal plants across the country to dump their toxic, industrial sludge into the drinking water of millions of Americans.

October 29, 2019

Today, the Salt Lake County Council passed a resolution establishing a goal of powering the county with 100% clean, renewable electricity by 2030.

October 23, 2019

Securitization is a key financing tool that can help electric utilities accelerate the retirement of uneconomic polluting coal plants and move more quickly toward a grid powered by clean, safe renewable energy, according to a new report from the Sierra Club.

October 21, 2019

ST. LOUIS, MO -- A peer-reviewed analysis of coal-fired power plants operating in markets across the United States, released by the Sierra Club earlier today, finds that many coal plants in market regions operate uneconomically and more than warranted by market conditions.

October 16, 2019

ANNAPOLIS -- Yesterday, after months of pressure from Sierra Club and other climate action groups, Governor Larry Hogan’s administration released their much delayed plan to reduce Maryland’s greenhouse gas emissions. State law set the deadline for the draft plan to be formalized and released in 2018. 

October 2, 2019

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a public hearing today to take input on “Phase 2b” of its proposed rollbacks of safeguards against coal ash pollution. The proposal under consideration would gut federal safeguards for coal ash waste piles and construction projects that use the toxic ash as a substitute for clean soil.

October 1, 2019

Donald Trump seemingly broke a long-held, bipartisan norm last night by seeking to fill only one of two open seats on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Rather than following established custom and pairing a Republican with a Democrat, Trump nominated only Republican James Danly, despite there being a qualified Democrat put forward. This decision harms the deliberative process in the Senate and FERC’s mission of being a fair, nonpolitical arbiter of America’s energy markets.

September 30, 2019

St. Louis, MO - Today, a federal judge in St. Louis ordered Ameren to comply with the Clean Air Act by installing pollution controls at its Rush Island and Labadie coal-fired power plants. Following a trial on remedies earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel entered a 157-page Memorandum Opinion today which summarized the Court’s rulings.  Sierra Club intervened in this case in 2017.

September 23, 2019

Air pollution reduction systems at Duke Energy’s Allen Steam Station near Belmont are not working efficiently, and the rate at which nitrogen oxides are emitted by the plant has increased in recent years, according to a report commissioned by the Sierra Club.