GOP’s Beard wants more coal plants because God will fix global warming

Rep. Mike Beard (R-Shakopee) is pushing for more new coal-fired power plants in Minnesota, but the Shakopee Republican is undeterred by reports about the effects of carbon-emitting energy production on global warming. His reason: He believes God will prevent the planet from running out of fossil fuels while also eliminating the harms associated with climate change. While Beard speaks from his religious tradition, many others in Minnesota’s faith communities believe it’s dangerous to wait for divine intervention to solve our environmental problems — and they say it’s the duty of people of faith to preserve the planet for future generations.

Activist Biggers fights uphill battle against dirty coal

Jeff Biggers watched helplessly as the hollers of Eagle Creek, Illinois — a corner of the Shawnee National Forest and his family’s home for roughly 200 years — were blasted away.

Despite setback, Big Stone II still slated for 2010 construction

Despite a metro-area city backing out of the project, representatives for the proposed Big Stone II power facility say they remain optimistic about the plant’s future, while opponents are still saying that it means dirty power for the Dakotas and Minnesota.

Big Stone II transmission project gets utility commission OK

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) unanimously approved the Certificate of Need for a transmission line project necessary for the construction of the Big Stone II coal-fired power plant in Milbank, South Dakota.

Despite a room full of citizens opposed to the plants construction for environmental concerns, many holding signs and some dressed in animal costumes, the PUC did not deliberate on the coal-fired facility itself or the environmental impacts that it may have, focusing instead on the cost of the project and its implications for utility rate payers.

Study: Carbon legislation makes coal a foolish investment

A financial research firm that was ahead of the curve on red-flagging Bear Stearns Companies’ bad investments is now warning a Kansas utility that expanding a coal-burning power plant would also fall under the financially dubious…

Carbon regulations to cost coal projects, bank says

Bank of America is estimating federal carbon regulations will cost coal-burning power plants between $20 and $40 per ton of carbon emissions, according to the Wall Street Journal. That’s more than twice the estimate being used by backers of…

Coal prices to jump next year, Citigroup says

First $100 a barrel oil. Soon $100 per metric ton coal?

Citigroup is forecasting the price of thermal coal will nearly double in 2008-09 from its current price of $55 per ton — and that doesn’t…

Big Stone II, the prequel?

In the news again: A controversial transmission line project that will carry electricity into Minnesota from a new coal-burning power plant beyond our border. I’m not talking about Big Stone II, but rather Arrowhead-Weston,…

Environmentalists Offer Energy Assessment at ConocoPhillips Forum

Representatives of two environmental organizations were given their say at a recent energy forum in Rochester, Minn. Loren Abraham of the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society and Chuck Laszewski of the