Environmentalists are hailing the closure, but it will also mean the loss of 70 good jobs in the economically depressed Slate Belt.
Lehigh Valley Congressman Charlie Dent believes the EPA should have been more flexible with GenOn, as he makes clear in this statement:
"I was very disappointed to learn GenOn Energy will soon shutter the Slate Belt’s Portland Generating Station, costing over 70 local residents their jobs and eliminating a valuable source of tax revenue for the Bangor Area School District. Last year, I joined U.S. Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey in expressing our concern to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it’s imposed deadline for the Portland facility to comply with costly environmental standards may be premature and could threaten local jobs, reduce reliability and increase energy costs. While I agree steps must be taken to improve local air quality, the potential impact on local jobs must also be taken into account when developing and implementing federal environmental regulations. The EPA must begin cooperating with domestic industries to achieve realistic environmental goals in a manner that does not unduly risk American jobs. Based on today’s announcement, the EPA clearly did not offer the flexibility to meet emission reductions goals the Senators and I recommended.”
Bernie
ReplyDeleteHeadline
70 FEWER jobs.
You're right. Corrected.
ReplyDeleteWait until the EPA bans fracking. Ohio's created 60,000 energy jobs in under two years. PA's number dwarfs that by a lot. That's a whole bunch on 99-weekers. They'll be gone after Obama wins re-election. And he'll care far less about the unemployed in his second term than he has in his first. Tough shit folks.
ReplyDeleteEPA is a worst enemy of the USA than the arabs. They and the bleeding heart liberals that support have practically forced a shutdown of our economy
ReplyDeleteIt's not just environmental benefits. There are huge economic benefits to improving public health. The kinds of particulate emissions released by this plant are directly linked to asthma. As everyone knows, the LV has a huge asthma problem related to air quality.
ReplyDeleteMy concern is this item..the news sparks a rise in their stock on the NYSE. Less plants..scarcity of electricity..higher prices to follow and possible brown outs during peak usage times..middle of Summer heat waves. This may also be a shrewd business move to increase profits. The plants are old and filthy by modern coal burning standards. Whatever the reasons may be..we got to deal with the reality of the situation here in SB country. Pray for us..
ReplyDeleteBest guess is the boro takes a min. of 40K hit on lost tipping fees for the coal ash now being landfilled in Bangor. They have a closure plan that will be initiated and the site monitored for a long time at their cost. Hopefully GenOn will sit down with us soon and tell us exactly what the deal is and the time table for shut down.
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure the LV has an allergy problem due to power plant particulates.
ReplyDeleteMold, pollen, and our valley inversion layer geography is the prime cause.
Asthma....schamsthma
ReplyDeleteA bunch of whiny libs
if people don't like getting cancer they should move from the shadows of these plants and shut their mouths!
And they should be allowed to dump the coal ash into the river,
instead of paying to get rid of it
thus hurting their profit. As far as fracking,
when I was a kid we did flaming shots of vodka.
Maybe I want to relive my youth and drink flaming shots of water
at least it doesn't have the harmful health problems associated with alcohol.
That pesky Nixon Clean Air and Water Act is for the stoopid.
Gotta go Megan Kelly is on FOX with a special on how Obama faked his birth certificate.
No winners..only losers as far as I can tell. Lost jobs,tax revenue,electrical production, and much more unseen negative stuff. Yes..the air quality improves but look at what it has truly cost all of us. There was another way to do this but corporate profit rules the day and thus the choice is to bag it. So much for company community relations. In the end we get the shaft..all of us.
ReplyDeleteBy the way..don't come crying about your high elec. bills and brown outs when these plants go offline and production can't match demand in a few years. Lots of blame to go around on this one.
ReplyDeleteThe phasing out of coal producing plants by electric utilities has been happening since the update to the Clean Air Act in 1990, albeit on a much faster curve today than 20 years ago. The plant in question is one of the worst offending coal producing plants in the country.
ReplyDeleteThe reason the Portland plant is so bad is due to this lack of attention to regulations over the course of many years, not because of sudden new regulations. In fact, the regulations in question come as no surprise to GenOn Energy. They are a poorly run company that is severely over-leveraged. even if they wanted to make the necessary changes, they do not have the finances to make them.
And there should be no electricity shortage for the next few years as there is new capacity coming online - mainly nat. gas plants - that is greater than the capacity going off line. Prices would increase if the fuel of the electric plants (coal, nat. gas, etc.) increases.
If you read the yearly reports put out by the major utility companies (as I have) you would know that they are prepared for this and have been adjusting over time. In fact, companies like NextEra (NEE) have been bringing very eco-friendly forms of new electricity online for years. NEE has been producing via solar and wind for years.
While this is horrible for the 70 people who are losing their jobs, this is more a result of poor management at GenOn than a regulatory issue. If GenOn had been doing the right thing all along, they would have been able to sell the plant to a better operator. Unfortunately, they neglected the plant and people are losing their livelihood as a result.
Publius
You are correct, sir.
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