Take heart, fellow “environazis” – this from a local paper editorial page smack dab in the middle of coal country, under the title “Things not always the way they appear”
Granted, the myth of clean coal is bogus. However, considering the political forces at work in the region, this is an astonishing commentary. The last so-called Democratic Congresscritter ran against the evils of Obama’s EPA and was ousted in a gerrymandered redistricting election by an even more resolute Republican fossil fuel stooge.
"And on another page of the paper, we learned that the massive coal-fired power plant at Homer City – considered the dirtiest electric facility in the country, pumping millions of tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere since it opened in 1969 – will soon be one of the cleanest. Despite the coal industry’s claims that new Environmental Protection Agency regulations will mean an end to all coal-fired plants, Homer City will be able to keep burning the fuel after installing $750 million worth of pollution controls.
"And the plant’s majority owner says it can do it without raising electric bills for its 2 million customers.
“Meanwhile, the coal industry, which could be spending its money finding ways to burn coal more cleanly, continues to pour millions of
dollars into the pockets of politicians and into its public relations campaign decrying the ‘War on Coal’ being waged by the Obama administration and the EPA. But Homer City proves that the political and economic rhetoric doesn’t match reality.”