April 28th, 2007
The supreme court, in a 9-0 ruling earlier this month ruled that existing energy facilities such as coal plants, to meet Clean Air standards evenafter upgrading these facilities. Many energy experts see the move by the supreme court as a completely different energy ballgame because baseload coal plants will have to invest in technologies that will meet emission standards. The effect of course, will be an increase in power rates to a level that makes renewable energies competitive. Right now, renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind are more expensive than coal. And with the deluge of renewable energy bills in the US Congress these days, the legislative framework for a more favorable renewable energy scenario seems very real, suddenly.