I have to give the new EPA credit: it was a bold move to propose that carbon dioxide (among other gases) can be regulated as a pollutant yesterday. Yet, anyone who has been paying attention will recognize that this decision was not made in a vacuum. Not by a long shot.
When in October both major Presidential candidates openly supported some kind of method for putting a price on carbon emissions, and there has been louder discussion of carbon and its role in climate change (or lack thereof) in the halls of Congress, then it was only a matter of time before one party or the other made the opening shot. The next sixty days – the open comment period before any proposed rules are published – will be very interesting.
This has been a possibility since the 2007 Supreme Court ruling that paved the way for EPA to make this listing by ruling that greenhouse gases are air pollutants as defined by the Clean Air Act, and I believe that ruling was the wake-up call to some in industry to begin looking for alternatives. Those individuals or industries that had ignored the Court’s ruling, or – worse – ignored its implications, have been slapped awake and will take personal interest in the Washington discussions over the next two months.
To be clear, yesterday’s EPA proposal specifically refers to greenhouse gases emitted by motor vehicle engines. However, those who are planning for the future should see that the gases that make up emissions from motor vehicle engines are the same as those from other sources. What other sources?
Locally, our utility (Alabama Power) generates approximately 70% of its electricity using coal – the highest carbon-emitting source for power generation. It did not go unnoticed by us at ReSolutions that Southern Company applied for a revised permit for a power plant outside Albany, Georgia this year. They plan to convert that plant from coal-fired to wood-fired over the next two years. Wood, while not zero-carbon, releases less carbon dioxide per BTU than coal or natural gas or oil, and is renewable. When wood grows (or re-grows in the case of the tree plantation), it sequesters CO2 again.
We also know that Southern Company has had at least one other pilot project to review replacing coal in its generation process, and therefore expect that the Albany, Georgia plant is not going to be the only plant to make the conversion from coal as Southern Company moves to insulate itself from the effects of the increased cost of burning coal and other fossil fuels.
The higher cost of burning fossil fuels in the future will mean increases at the pump and the meter that will hit each of us directly. Higher rates will mean personal and commercial innovations and efficiencies. I expect this will drive alternatives, too, on the local level. If there’s anything Alabamians hate, and reject year after year, it’s taxes. (Take a good look at our roads, schools and environmental enforcement for examples of what’s not being funded.) I expect a lot more people will figure out how much they can do with less energy.
– Keith Johns
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