Sulfur dioxide being spewed into the stratosphere by coal-fired power plants and volcanic eruptions has blunted the impact of global warming over the past decade, offsetting roughly one third of the increased heat caused by greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study. (more…)

European efforts to curb carbon emissions may have actually encouraged construction of traditional coal-fired power plants in Germany, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

To promote the use of cleaner energy sources, the European Union in 2005 (more…)

Coal production costs the U.S. up to $500 billion each year in hidden health, economic, and environmental impacts, according to a new study by Harvard researchers.

Researchers at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School found that the public health costs in (more…)

Xcel Energy, the largest electric utility in Colorado, Friday filed a plan with the Public Utility Commission that would bring it into compliance with Colorado’s new Clean Air Clean Jobs Act signed into law by Governor Ritter in April. The new law is designed to target encourage steep cuts in carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants — and to effectively block (more…)

The US EPA and Duke Energy have reached a settlement in another New Source Review enforcement action.

Duke Energy, one of the largest electric power companies in the nation, will spend approximately $85 million to significantly reduce harmful air pollution at an Indiana power plant and pay a $1.75 million civil penalty, under a settlement to resolve violations of federal clean air laws, the Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The settlement also requires Duke to spend $6.25 million on environmental mitigation projects.

The agreement, filed in federal court in Indianapolis, resolves violations of the Clean Air Act’s new source review requirements found at the company’s Gallagher coal-fired power plant in New Albany, Ind., located directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Ky. (more…)