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bounty44 -> RE: Coal miners are............. (12/24/2016 12:30:56 PM)
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and rick perry, department of energy secretary:
(unless something's changed since last I looked)
"As Governor, Perry Backed Wind, Gas and Coal"
quote:
“The governor’s energy priorities will be centered around scaling back the E.P.A.’s intrusive, misguided and job-killing policies, which will empower states to foster their own energy resources without crippling mandates and open the doors for our nation to pursue and strengthen an all-of-the-above energy approach,” Mr. Miner wrote in an e-mail.
“America is rich in energy resources, both traditional and renewable, and those resources should all be utilized so we can decrease our dependence on foreign energy sources and help generate greater job growth, which our nation desperately needs.”
To unpack what this means, it is worth reviewing Mr. Perry’s record on energy, a huge driver of the Texas economy. One theme that Mr. Perry often emphasizes, and that Mr. Miner suggested would help shape a nationwide policy, has been energy diversification. Over Mr. Perry’s decade as governor, natural gas drilling has surged, and wind last year supplied nearly 8 percent of the electricity on the Texas grid, up from less than 1 percent in 2000, when Mr. Perry took office. The state’s first biomass power plant began operating this month, and, contrary to the national trend, Mr. Perry has also backed construction of new coal-fired power plants….
Coal
Under Mr. Perry, Texas has moved eagerly to build coal-fired power plants, even as other states have stopped issuing permits for the plants because of pollution concerns.
In 2005, the governor issued an executive order that allowed a more rapid approval of coal plant permits. A major electric company, TXU, sought to build 11 coal-plant units, though those plans ultimately fell apart after private equity firms bought the company and committed to environmental improvements…
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state’s environmental agency, which is headed by three Perry appointees, continues to award coal plant permits. Nine proposed plants have received permits. (Nineteen coal plants already operate across the state.)
Mr. Perry, an outspoken fan of “clean coal,” also lashes out regularly against the E.P.A., which wants to tighten restrictions on air pollutants like ozone and mercury that could shut down older coal plants. Texas is also leading the fight against federal greenhouse gas regulation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/us/21ttenergy.html
oh and big oil owns coal companies...
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