Tag Archives: Coal in US

Politics

BC Conservatives pitch a carbon tax on US coal as a trade-war measure

By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

British Columbia Opposition Leader John Rustad floated the idea on Monday of imposing a carbon tax on American thermal coal exported through B.C. ports, in response to the U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber. While some climate activists fighting coal exports say this would lead to positive results by increasing the price of a dirty fuel, they argue the most effective action would be to ban exports altogether to tackle the climate crisis. 

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Cost of Climate Change

Unconstrained LNG exports will cost consumers and the climate: U.S. Department of Energy

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter — With files from John Woodside

If the U.S. allows unconstrained growth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, there will be significant costs to both consumers and the climate, according to a new government report.

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Energy

Renewables Are Replacing Coal In America

By Roy L Hales

For the first time ever, in April renewable energy produced more US electricity than coal. This trend is expected to continue through May and Trump’s U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) “sees renewable generation topping coal-fired output sporadically this year, and again in 2020.” While the transition is only in the early stages, renewables are replacing coal in America.

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Politics

How Much Damage Can Donald Trump Do?

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By Roy L Hales

The fears seem especially strong across the renewable and environmental communities. David Suzuki writes that  “a bigoted, misogynistic, climate change denier has been elected to the highest office in what is still the world’s most powerful nation.”  Many fear that President-elect Donald Trump “is set to gut US environmental regulations, open up federal lands for fossil fuel extraction, and quit the Paris climate agreement.” Academics from many North American universities are copying information and data from U.S. government environmental websites before the new administration eradicates it. The next President’s personality “is certainly extreme by any standard.” How much damage can Donald Trump do to America?

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Energy

America Can Nearly Quadruple Its Renewable Electricity By 2030

A recent Union of Concerned Scientists (USC) study found that America can nearly quadruple its renewable electricity in the next 15 years, reaching 23% by 2030. This comes in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal that America set a modest goal of 12% renewable energy by 2030. Rachel Cleetus, Senior Climate Economist of UCS, referred to the EPA’s goal as just a fraction above “business as usual.” The UCS found raising this target, to +23% of the nation’s electricity from non-hydro renewable sources by 2030, would cost the average household only about 18 cents per month. Cleetus described this as a realistic and affordable goal: “Looking at the way renewable energy is ramping up and costs are falling dramatically, there is a real opportunity to go farther.”

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