Splitair, Loretta. “California to Build 8 Coal-Fired Power Plants.” Nevada County Scooper. N.p., 04 Mar. 2017. Web. 13 Mar. 2017

California recently announced that it will build up to eight new coal powered plants. The funding will come from the Federal Energy department. The sudden change from California’s previous goals comes from the new president, Donald Trump, who is encouraging the usage of coal for energy around the country.

California’s change is very surprising because they had vowed to use 100% renewable energy by 2045 months before. Overall, this is negative because coal is not clean for our air and can cause serious environmental concerns. One of those concerns being that 96 percent of the wind from these plants will end up in states such as Nevada, Colorado, and Utah.

Gov. Jerry Brown Calls on California Ports to Cut Coal Exports.” Press Telegram. N.p., 27 Nov. 2016. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

California Governor, Jerry Brown, has asked for a reduction in the export of coal from California ports. He recently signed a bill that prevents the construction of new terminals for the export of coal in the state. His request has already shown reduction in at the Long Beach port which has exported 1.5 million metric tons of coal in 2012, where as last year it only exported 0.5 million metric tons.

The impact of the governor’s action will reduce the amount of available coal around the country. Hopefully, it will also set a precedent for other states to follow and reduce the amount of coal exporting.

Purvis, Ann. “News – California Insurance Commissioner Tells Insurers to Drop Coal Investments.” News – California Insurance Commissioner Tells Insurers to Drop Coal Investments | Heartland Institute. N.p., 5 Sept. 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2017

The California Insurance Commissioner, Dave Jones, has asked that all insurance companies that are in business in the state to divest from their coal investments. Although it is a voluntary request, he is threatening to publicize the names of companies that do not divest. He is calling for divestment in companies that derive more than 30 percent of their revenues from coal and from utilities using coal to generate 30 percent of their energy.

Overall, this is a very positive action towards helping our environment. It will cause companies that deal with coal to lose financial strength causing them to grow weaker and more vulnerable. Although it may not be very appropriate for the California Insurance Commissioner to be using his power to publicize company names and such, it is very beneficial in the effort to cleaner energy.

Richardson, Luke. “Solar News: California Sets 100% Renewable Target, Solar Growth Double the Rate of Coal Industry.” EnergySage. N.p., 24 Feb. 2017. Web. 13 Mar. 2017

California has recently just set a goal to be using 100 percent renewable energy by 2045. Coal has been overthrown in California and will be replaced by both solar and wind energy. California is only one of two states who have proposed 100 percent renewable energy plans.

By replacing coal with solar and wind energy, California will easily reduce their emissions. Solar and wind, at least at the moment, will not be able to produce enough electricity to power 100 percent of California. Hydro energy will likely also need to be added to reach the goal that was set.

D’oro, Rachel. “Alaska Natives to Protect Land for California Carbon Program.” Coal News. Pennenergy, 27 Jan. 2017. Web. 13 Mar. 2017

California has purchased 115,000 acres in Alaska to use for credits in the cap and trade program. The cap and trade program is a system where states can only emit a certain amount of pollution and if they go over they must purchase credits elsewhere. The coal rights to 62,000 acres of the land will be given to the nature conservancy land trust.
The impact this will have is that it will help reduce the impact of coal mining on the environment. There will be a precedent set from this to encourage other states to purchase credits to preserve the environmen

Sydney Mkay. “France Set to Shut Down All Coal Power Plants By 2023 – The Ring of Fire Network.” The Ring of Fire Network. N.p., 20 Nov. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.(https://trofire.com/2016/11/20/france-set-shut-coal-plants-2023/)

In the article, the author reveals that France is attempting to remove all coal power plants from its country by the year 2023. They are also attempting to become carbon neutral by the year 2050. Along with being an environmental leader, France also creates 75% of its energy from nuclear fission.

By removing all coal power plants from their country, France is making a huge step in helping the environment. These sort of changes are what makes France an environmental leader as the article stated. More countries should use nuclear fission for energy. France’s actions should be very beneficial for the environment and their actions should be followed by other countries.

Kery Murakami CNHI Washington Reporter. “Optimism Runs High for Coal Industry, despite Trump’s Conflicting Promises.” Terre Haute Tribune Star. N.p., 20 Nov. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. (http://www.tribstar.com/news/optimism-runs-high-for-coal-industry-despite-trump-s-conflicting/article_316eb35a-6e9c-5fdb-b48f-c411383ffb78.html)

The article describes the implications for the future that Trump is proposing for the coal industry. He has stated that he is going to end the assault on coal that current president Barack Obama has implemented. Although he wants to end the war on coal, he also wants to increase production and infrastructure for natural gas, a task that many are criticizing him for, saying it cannot really be done.

With Trump’s proposed plan for the use of coal, the environment will likely suffer. The end of the “war on coal”, will increase pollution. Also to help coal, you have to increase the price of natural gas, not lower it, as Trump is proposing. In conclusion, the proposed plans for coal will likely cause the environment to suffer.

Http://www.facebook.com/scienceblogfan. “Enabling China to Shift from Coal to Natural Gas – ScienceBlog.com.” ScienceBlog.com. N.p., 20 Nov. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. (https://scienceblog.com/489974/enabling-china-shift-coal-natural-gas/)

The article reveals China’s ambition to add the useage of natural gas instead of coal. They hope to have 10 percent of their energy come from natural gas by 2020 instead of the 6 percent it is now. To put that in perspective the global average is 25 percent. The benefits from the decrease in coal use have been predicted to decrease welfare costs by 0.5% due to cleaner air.

China has had many pollution problems. The air has been contaminated so severely that it causes health problems. The decrease in coal use and increase in natural gas use should be very beneficial for the environment due to less pollutants in the air. People will inherently be more healthy due to the cleaner air.  

Pillay, Amritha. “Rise in Imported Coal Prices Puts Overseas Coal Mines Back in Focus.”Business Standard News. Business-Standard, 20 Nov. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.(http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/rise-in-imported-coal-prices-puts-overseas-coal-mines-back-in-focus-116112000644_1.html)

The article summarizes the increase in coal prices and the results from it. India has now increased its investments in their mines as a result. The company, GMR, has invested 500 million dollars recently into Indonesia’s PT Golden Energy to purchase 30 percent of the stakes. A coal analyst that was quoted in the article said that the increase in coal prices may cause many of the energy companies to invest in coal mines if the price begins to firm.  

The article leads us to the conclusion that the increase in coal prices could actually allow the coal market to grow. The large investments from the energy companies would allow the growth to happen. This could hurt the environment since the energy companies would still continue to use coal to create energy.

“Asian LNG and Coal Prices Jump to Rarely Seen Highs- Nikkei Asian Review.” Nikkei Asian Review. N.p., 20 Nov. 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016. (http://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Commodities/Asian-LNG-and-coal-prices-jump-to-rarely-seen-highs)

The article reveals that the prices of coal and liquefied natural gas have taken a large to unusual highs. Apparently the price of coal has doubled since last January. Also China has restricted the number of days coal mines can operate. Now Chinese power companies are importing much more coal to replenish their supplies. As most Asian companies use long-term contracts for most of their coal imports, one of the major importers just agreed to an annual contract for $94.75 per ton of coal, which is the highest it has been in four years.

Hopefully the increase in coal prices will drive companies to switch to other, less polluting resources for energy. Coal pollutes much more than the other alternatives to create energy. Since the prices have doubled within a year, we should see companies making the change but we cannot be sure. To sum it up, it should create change that would benefit the environment.