Hey all, I hope you’ll read my latest L.A. Times column and let me know what you think. Here’s how it starts:
>*Over the last two decades, 21 coal-fired power plants have shut down across the Western U.S.*
>*Twenty-one down, 32 to go.*
>*Those numbers are based on a*Â [*Sierra Club tracker*](https://coal.sierraclub.org/coal-plant-map)Â *and an L.A. Times analysis. They show how much more work is needed to help California and the rest of the West phase out the dirtiest fossil fuel.*
>*They also shine a light on the important progress being made as climate activists pressure government officials to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for the harm done by their products — and as solar panels, wind turbines and other clean energy devices increasingly outcompete planet-warming coal, oil and gas on the market.*
>*Those efforts could be boosted on Thursday when the Biden administration is expected to finalize several rules limiting pollution from coal- and gas-fired power plants. The regulations won’t end the climate crisis. But they’ll certainly limit the pain.*
>*In the race to slash heat-trapping pollution, progress and pain usually go hand in hand.*
>*But the Western grid is a sprawling, interconnected maze of generators and wires. Electrons follow the path of least resistance, and utilities inevitably rely on one another to ensure the power stays on. If the winds suddenly die down on a hot day in California — reducing wind turbine output right when we need lots of energy to keep our air conditioners humming — you can bet that if there’s a coal plant in Wyoming with spare capacity, it’s going to help power the West Coast, whether we know it or not.*
>*That’s why it’s so important for Californians — and Oregonians and Washingtonians and everyone who cares about the climate crisis — to think beyond the ambitious goals that their state lawmakers may have set, important as those goals are. Even if your state or power company claims to be moving 100% clean energy, some of your electricity may still come from lumps of coal.*
>*And even if your life is as clean as it gets — solar panels on the roof, battery in the garage, electric vehicle, induction stove, no plastic containers, compost bin — every ton of coal burned in Montana and Utah and Wyoming poses a threat to you too.*
>*So here’s a rundown of the 32 Western coal plants yet to close — and ideas for how you can hasten their demise.*
Again, I hope you’ll read the whole piece and let me know what you think! If you’re interested, you can sign up for my twice-weekly Boiling Point columns and news roundups at [latimes.com/boilingpoint](http://latimes.com/boilingpoint)
1 Comment
Hey all, I hope you’ll read my latest L.A. Times column and let me know what you think. Here’s how it starts:
>*Over the last two decades, 21 coal-fired power plants have shut down across the Western U.S.*
>*Twenty-one down, 32 to go.*
>*Those numbers are based on a*Â [*Sierra Club tracker*](https://coal.sierraclub.org/coal-plant-map)Â *and an L.A. Times analysis. They show how much more work is needed to help California and the rest of the West phase out the dirtiest fossil fuel.*
>*They also shine a light on the important progress being made as climate activists pressure government officials to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for the harm done by their products — and as solar panels, wind turbines and other clean energy devices increasingly outcompete planet-warming coal, oil and gas on the market.*
>*Those efforts could be boosted on Thursday when the Biden administration is expected to finalize several rules limiting pollution from coal- and gas-fired power plants. The regulations won’t end the climate crisis. But they’ll certainly limit the pain.*
>*In the race to slash heat-trapping pollution, progress and pain usually go hand in hand.*
>*In 2022, coal supplied* [*just over 15%*](https://www.wecc.org/epubs/StateOfTheInterconnection/Pages/Net-Generation0706-7913.aspx) *of electricity on the Western Interconnection, the power grid spanning most of the American West and parts of western Canada and northern Mexico. And even though there’s just one coal plant left in a West Coast state — Washington’s Centralia plant, which is slated to close in 2025 — several coastal population centers still buy power from faraway coal generators. Those metros include Los Angeles, Portland and the Puget Sound region, as I* [*reported this month*](https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-04-16/red-state-coal-towns-still-power-the-west-coast-we-cant-just-let-them-die)*.*
>*The L.A. Department of Water and Power is*Â [*working to convert*](https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2022-05-19/this-tiny-utah-town-could-shape-the-wests-energy-future-boiling-point)Â *the coal-fired Intermountain Power Plant outside Delta, Utah, to a mix of gas and clean-burning hydrogen, with the goal of eventually burning 100% hydrogen. The utility companies Portland General Electric and Puget Sound Energy are under state orders to end direct coal purchases in the next few years.*
>*But the Western grid is a sprawling, interconnected maze of generators and wires. Electrons follow the path of least resistance, and utilities inevitably rely on one another to ensure the power stays on. If the winds suddenly die down on a hot day in California — reducing wind turbine output right when we need lots of energy to keep our air conditioners humming — you can bet that if there’s a coal plant in Wyoming with spare capacity, it’s going to help power the West Coast, whether we know it or not.*
>*That’s why it’s so important for Californians — and Oregonians and Washingtonians and everyone who cares about the climate crisis — to think beyond the ambitious goals that their state lawmakers may have set, important as those goals are. Even if your state or power company claims to be moving 100% clean energy, some of your electricity may still come from lumps of coal.*
>*And even if your life is as clean as it gets — solar panels on the roof, battery in the garage, electric vehicle, induction stove, no plastic containers, compost bin — every ton of coal burned in Montana and Utah and Wyoming poses a threat to you too.*
>*So here’s a rundown of the 32 Western coal plants yet to close — and ideas for how you can hasten their demise.*
Again, I hope you’ll read the whole piece and let me know what you think! If you’re interested, you can sign up for my twice-weekly Boiling Point columns and news roundups at [latimes.com/boilingpoint](http://latimes.com/boilingpoint)