TreeHugger had a piece I thought was interesting earlier this month on how the Obama Administration's EPA is likely to deal with coal.

Following the EPA's stance on coal-fired power plants during the final months of the Bush Administration was enough to make you dizzy: first, it stated in November that emissions from plants should indeed be regulated. Their emissions would have to be taken into account in the approval process for new coal plants, and some considered it coal's darkest hour. But it was not to be. A month later, they ruled that coal plant emissions were no business of the EPA's after all - a ruling that could have sped up approval for even more plants.

The article goes on to look at how the EPA has begun to reconsider that particular change of heart since the start of the Obama Administration.

There's really no way around it. An emphasis on alternative energy sources like wind and solar power means competition for the coal industry - even before you factor in any Environmental concerns. At the moment, wind and solar power arn't competitive from a cost perspective and can't supply enough energy to meant much of the demand for electricity in America. New regulation on pollution from from coal-fired power plants could make wind and solar energy more competitive - by raising the price of electricity generated by coal.

No matter how you look at it, the future of coal looks a little dim.


Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 5565425