The Connecticut Post Online - Coal plants belong in the nation's past: "... The nation's rural electric cooperatives reportedly plan to spend $35 billion to build conventional coal plants over the next 10 years, enough to offset all state and federal efforts to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions over that time. It's a blow to Connecticut's fight to clean its air, and it also runs counter to our national interest.
U.S. policy needs to focus on energy, both supply and demand. The dirtiest power-producing methods need to be phased out, not given a jump-start through low-interest loans — the nation needs to put coal and oil in its past. The consequences in terms of global warming are stark. At the same time, increasing efficiency and conservation can cut demand, allowing a move to new technologies apart from the polluters of past generations.
Giving new life to coal-fired power plants, however well-intentioned, is bad policy. It hurts Connecticut, and will come back to hurt the world. A forward-looking policy can not allow this program to continue."
