Washington’s largest climate polluter shuts down despite federal order
www.kuow.org
The Pacific Northwest’s largest pollution source has shut down, and Washington state officials want to keep it that way.

The “emegency” was not enough profits for the fossil fuels industry, rather than a need for the electricity an ancient coal-burning power plant might generate, and the Trump administration plan has been to prevent all coal-burning power plants from shutting down — even if they’re already broken, don’t work, aren’t needed, or are simply more expensive than wind, solar, and utility-scale batteries.

  • Akh@lemmy.world
    17·
    6 hours ago

    Wind is just infinitely cheaper than coal in every way. The scrubbers for sulfur alone in a 200 MW plant cost just to keep it from killing everyone and everything around are $400 million. A 2MW commercial wind turbine cost $4 million to install roughly $65k a year to maintain, which include admin, legal, leases, etc. so 200 MW of wind cost about the same as just the scrubbers in coal plant and $650k to maintain, vs Millions in maintenance in coal. Wind is not just greener, it is cheaper and better. The power source to turn the turbine is free!

  • ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works
    15·
    7 hours ago

    They’re converting to natural gas at any rate. The facility just doesn’t have coal to continue running because the plan all along was to shut down and convert. This order to stay open did fuck all except inject delays into bureaucracy.