WYOMING - Reaction to EPA Plan to Cut Carbon Emissions

"How an EPA plan to cut carbon emissions is playing out in coal-rich Wyoming" PBS NewsHour 1/16/2015

COMMENT:  Again, the personal profit of a few before the welfare of our planet, and by extension, the welfare of our world's human beings.

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SUMMARY:  In Wyoming, people care about issues that affect their land and energy resources.  A recently announced EPA initiative to cut carbon emissions, the Clean Power Plan, aims to move American electricity generation away from coal -- the economic lifeblood for that state.  Special correspondent Leigh Paterson of Inside Energy looks at both sides of the fight.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  The rise in greenhouse gases and temperatures are the reasons why the president has issued new restrictions on coal-fired power plants in this country.

But now that Republicans hold control of Congress, one issue high on their agenda, blocking or delaying the EPA’s plans.

We get a report on how that’s viewed in a key energy-producing state, Wyoming.

It comes from Leigh Paterson of Inside Energy.  That’s a public media collaboration on energy issues, working with the NewsHour.

LEIGH PATERSON, Inside Energy:  Caring for a few hundred cows during the Wyoming winter is hard work.  Subzero temperatures and hurricane-force winds are normal.

Rancher Dave Hamilton say it’s part of the disconnect between people who live off the land and those who regulate the environment.

DAVE HAMILTON, President, Natural Gas Processing Co.:  We seem to have people that have never, ever even set foot on — in the state of Wyoming, that don’t understand farming, don’t understand ranching pass rules that affect us all, when, in fact, we all want to keep our land together.  I can’t make a living if I destroy my land.

ENVIRONMENT - EPA's Coal Ash Decision

"EPA decision not to classify coal ash as hazardous angers environmentalists" PBS NewsHour 12/19/2014

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JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  The past few years, and a pair of major spills into waterways and communities have brought a whole new concern about the coal industry to the forefront.  It’s about a byproduct called coal ash.

After a six-year battle, the Environmental Protection Agency has now set the first national standards for how to regulate and deal with it.  But some argue the federal government pulled its punches.

Jeffrey Brown has the story.

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  December 22, 2008, more than a billion gallons of coal ash, a by-product of coal-burning energy production, mixed with water, burst through the banks of a containment pond in Kingston, Tennessee.

The coal ash slurry flooded homes, farmland and poured into the Emory River, prompting what would become a billion-dollar cleanup.  Earlier this year, more than 80,000 tons spilled from a Duke Energy holding pond into North Carolina’s Dan River.  According to the EPA, more than 100 such breeches, though usually smaller, happen every year.

Coal ash contains toxic contaminants like mercury, arsenic and lead, and environmental groups have long warned holding ponds are not only prone to ruptures, but also leak into groundwater.  They had pushed for coal ash to be classified as a hazardous material.  That would give regulatory authority of the substance to the EPA.

But in announcing new standards for coal ash storage and disposal today, EPA head Gina McCarthy said that power would remain with the states.

GINA MCCARTHY, Environmental Protection Agency:  This rule sets a commonsense, consistent baseline for industries and states to follow, and that communities can rely on to prevent health risks, as well as costly cleanups.

KENTUCKY - Coal Country

Note that is what happens when ANY area/city becomes too dependent on one industry.

"Will Promise Zone initiative lift Eastern Kentucky’s coal country out of poverty?" PBS NewsHour 10/18/2014

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NARRATOR:  In this south central mountain country, over a third of the population has faced chronic unemployment.

MEGAN THOMPSON (NewsHour):  For as long as anyone can remember, the coal country of Eastern Kentucky has struggled. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson came through here after he declared the War on Poverty.  This is the area became the face of his campaign.

PRESIDENT JOHNSON:  We are just not willing to accept the necessity of poverty.

MEGAN THOMPSON:  Back then, the poverty rate in some areas was around 60 percent.

Eastern Kentucky has made big strides in the last 50 years since Lyndon Johnson came through here.  But even still, the area continues to struggle today.

MEGAN THOMPSON:  The poverty rate in Eastern Kentucky has dropped, but in some parts still hovers around 30 percent.  Unemployment in some counties is more than 10 percent, much higher than the national average.  And the region is still dependent on coal, which has meant trouble as the industry’s gone south.

MEGAN THOMPSON:  How big is the coal industry?

TOBEY MILLER:  Everything here stems off of coal.

MEGAN THOMPSON:  Like many here, Tobey Miller’s roots run deep, and they run through the coal mines.

TOBEY MILLER:  Well, my Papaw, he worked in the mines.  Used to tell me stories about when he moved here.

MEGAN THOMPSON:  Miller’s papaw – his grandfather – bought the family farm in Knox County in 1941 with the money he earned from coal.  Miller’s dad worked in coal.  And straight out of high school, Miller did too, welding the heavy machinery used in the mines.  Miller’s family – his wife, two daughters and granddaughter – lived well.  He earned more than $50,000 a year.  That’s double the median household income around here.  But then a year ago, Miller was told his job was being cut.

COAL - Producer to Pay $200 Million Cleanup Fine

"Leading coal producer agrees to pay record fine to clean polluted waters across Appalachia" PBS Newshour 3/5/2014

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GWEN IFILL (Newshour):  We return now to the EPA’s settlement today with one of the largest coal producers in the country over pollution in five Appalachian states.

Dina Cappiello, the national environment reporter for the Associated Press, joins us now.

Twenty-seven-and-a-half million dollars in fines, $200 million for the cleanup, in the range of penalty, how does this rank?

DINA CAPPIELLO, The Associated Press:  Well, it’s the biggest ever for a company that violated its water pollution permits.

So, obviously, other companies have paid big fines in the past.  In 2008, the EPA settled with Massey Energy, another coal company, for $20 million.  But this is the biggest ever for a company that violated permits it had from states.

GWEN IFILL:  Now, describe to us how widespread the pollution was.

DINA CAPPIELLO:  The numbers here are pretty staggering.

You’re talking over 6,000 violations, violations over 300 state-issued permits, hundreds of streams, tributaries and rivers, 79 active coal mines, 25 coal processing plants, where they put the coal and wash it before it’s shipped, over five Appalachian states.  So it’s a pretty massive coverage area for the settlement.

COAL - Ash Spill Raises Questions

Again, this begs the question of WHY states allow such facilities near rivers and lakes?

"North Carolina coal ash spill raises questions about enforcement of environmental regulations" PBS Newshour 2/17/2014

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JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  A major spill of toxic coal ash is raising questions again about the safety of water and the government regulators overseeing industry.  This time, the accident was reported in North Carolina on February 2, specifically in the Dan River in the city of Eden.

The Duke Energy company said more than 50,000 tons of coal ash had leaked from a containment pond into the river, as seen in these photos taken by the Waterkeeper Alliance.  Parts of the river look like a gray sludge.  The ash, which contains arsenic and other dangerous metals, is produced from burning coal.

Today, at a state hearing, Duke Energy officials apologized for the spill and said they would clean it up.  But big questions remain, including about coal ash containment ponds elsewhere.

Reporter Michael Biesecker has been covering this for the Associated Press.  And he joins us now from Raleigh.