coal

The site of the last coal-fired power plant in Washington state will soon be home to proving grounds for a carbon-emissions free mining truck. The truck is a battery and hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle, developed by Seattle-based First Mode, and it's the largest emissions free vehicle in the world. Chris Voorhees, co-founder and chief product and technology officer at First Mode, said they’ve developed the technology to focus on decarbonizing the industry that provides the products that fuel our daily lives. Unlike other cleantech engineering focused on the consumer-end products like electric vehicles and solar panels, Voorhees said First Mode is looking at the opposite end of the supply chain.

A demolition contractor on Thursday imploded the towering smokestack and 19-story boiler building at Portland General Electric’s shuttered coal-fired power plant near Boardman, bringing a symbolic close to the era of coal-fired power generation in Oregon. Imported electricity generated from coal still flows through transmission wires across the Pacific Northwest, but that looks to be winding down soon, too.

Coal plant closures in the Northwest and an increase in natural gas generation meant fewer heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions recently contributed to climate change, according to new data from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

Last year, Wyoming and Montana — another major coal state — asked the Supreme Court to override a decision by Washington state to deny a permit to build a coal export dock on the Columbia River. The interstate lawsuit followed years of unsuccessful attempts by the dock’s developer, Utah-based Lighthouse Resources, to contest the permit denial in federal court.

Coal use has plummeted in part because it's more expensive than natural gas or renewable energy. Mines are shutting down, and some power plants may run out of places to stockpile coal.

The Environmental Protection Agency would give coal plants more time to close unlined coal ash ponds, and ease rules on wastewater. Opponents say that prolongs the risk of toxic spills.

Environmental groups have been pressing PacifiCorp for years to close more of its coal plants sooner and speed up its transition to renewable energy. But leaders in states like Wyoming, where the utility’s coal plants are stationed, say the company would be hurting local economies and betraying their trust by closing coal plants early.

Humanity is not on track to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. Delegations from nearly 200 countries are meeting to discuss promises they made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Hundreds of coal miners in Wyoming are still out of work two months after their employer declared bankruptcy. It's a moment of reckoning for a town some think relies too much on the energy industry.

A coal company has been dealt another legal blow in its attempt to build an export terminal on the lower Columbia River. The Washington Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling Tuesday that was being challenged by Millennium Bulk Terminals and Northwest Alloys Inc.