Wind, Solar Cheer as Coal Vows Battle on Obama’s Energy Plan
The wind and solar industries cheered while coal companies vowed to kill President Barack Obama’s new limits on climate-change pollution as details of the historic regulations emerged.
The rules, to be unveiled at the White House on Monday, include tougher limits on planet-warming carbon emissions and more incentives for renewables than originally expected. That may also mean fewer benefits for natural gas or nuclear power than anticipated. The outlook for coal remained bleak as ever.
“The renewable energy sector should be a clear winner while merchant coal-fired generators could end up the big losers,” Paul Patterson, a New York-based utility analyst for Glenrock Associates LLC, said in an e-mail. “Given the rules’ complexity and controversy, those who could likely stand to benefit the most in the end might be the lawyers.” (by Alex Nussbaum, Jessica Summers and Mark Chediak, Bloomberg Business)