Though certainly not as big in size, Wednesday’s Green Business Roundtable touched on many of the same issues being discussed between international leaders in Paris this week: namely, the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.
Speaking to a capacity crowd at the holiday-decorated Henry Strater Theatre, Patrick Cummins, a senior policy adviser for Colorado State University’s Center for the New Energy Economy, had grim predictions for the future of the coal industry and an optimistic view on cleaner air.
Cummins centered his lecture on President Barack Obama’s new Clean Power Plan, which calls for a 32 percent reduction nationwide in carbon emissions from existing power plants – from 2005 levels – by 2030.
Each state is tasked with drafting its own plan by September 2016, though officials can opt for a two-year extension. In Colorado, greenhouse gas emissions must be cut by 38 percent, or regulators must reduce the total mass number of tons by 31 percent.
“Despite some disagreement with our attorney general (Cynthia Coffman), our governor (John Hickenlooper) firmly stated his intention to develop a plan for the state of Colorado,” said Cummins, referencing Coffman’s federal lawsuit of the plan, and the subsequent backlash from Hickenlooper.
Cummins said even the states and companies against the Clean Power Plan will soon begin to comply with the rule, if only to maintain authority to implement the new regulations.
As far as Colorado is concerned, Cummins said the state’s greenhouse gas emissions are already halfway to meeting the 2030 standards, and that’s because of the decline in the coal industry as the nation shifts toward a reliance on natural gas and renewable energy.
Cummins said the Clean Power Plan hits the coal industry the hardest, mostly because the technology to meet the new emission standards for coal plants isn’t there. “In essence, there will not be any more coal plants built based on the technology we do have,” he said, adding only two new coal plants have been built in the West since 1990.
“By 2030, 50 percent of the coal plants in the West will be 50 years old or older. The point there is, they’re going to be shutting down.”
In Southwest Colorado, that effect has already rippled throughout the area.
The San Juan Generating Station recently shut down two of its four units, with its future operation uncertain. Even Four Corners Power Plant on the Navajo Nation closed three of its five units just two years ago.
But Colorado, as a whole, still has a long way to go, Cummins said. Trends show Colorado as a progressive state in terms of reducing emissions, but there are still 55 units, 21 of which are coal plants that need to come into compliance.
“On the one hand (Colorado’s) well-positioned,” he said. “But there’s no question we’ve got work to do.”
Tying it back to the Paris climate talks, Cummins said the Clean Power Plan is the U.S.’s commitment to the global community, showing that it’s taking the lead on addressing climate change.
“The good news is we finally got here,” he said. “And there’s reason to believe the Clean Power Plan will be successful, and it’s an important first step in achieving significant greenhouse gases in the U.S.”
jromeo@durangoherald.com
