Colorado Coal Industry: Regulators More Interested In Emissions Than Mine Safety

Colorado Coal Industry: Regulators More Interested In Emissions Than

Instead of zeroing in on safety issues, Colorado politicians from both parties have been focusing on emissions from Colorado's older, coal-fired power plants. Despite Gov. Bill Ritter's "New Energy Economy" that seeks to boost the state's renewable energy portfolio to 30 percent by 2025 (using natural gas as a bridge fuel), the state still generates more than 65 percent of its electricity by burning coal.

Earlier this week, Ritter signed into law the rapidly crafted Clean Air Clean Jobs Act, which requires Xcel Energy, the state's largest utility, to shut down or retrofit several coal-fired power plants on the Front Range so that they burn natural gas, which is 50 percent cleaner than coal but more expensive to produce and distribute.

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