Sept. 19, 2007: Neal St. Anthony: Big Stone II Events May Signal End of Coal Era

Great River Energy pulled out of the Big Stone II project, which begs the question, is the nation moving away from a time of coal plants?

Star Tribune
Neal St. Anthony: Big Stone II Events May Signal End of Coal Era
By Neal St. Anthony
Sept. 19, 2007
http://www.startribune.com/1069/story/1433694.html

This week's decision by Great River Energy and a smaller Minnesota utility to pull the plug on their one-quarter share of the proposed Big Stone II plant could be a signal that no more traditional coal-burning plants will be built in these parts.

Coal plants are leading contributors to greenhouse gases because of the vast amounts of carbon dioxide they emit. But carbon dioxide emissions are not regulated. At least not yet.

However, the utility industry widely anticipates that CO2 caps are coming. And in the meantime, many are wary of building old-style plants now for fear that they will require expensive modifications when CO2 regulations go into effect.