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Court blocks EPA rules for Oklahoma power plants

Business Week AP -- OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal appeals court has blocked enforcement of an Environmental Protection Agency plan that would reduce pollution from Oklahoma's coal-fired power plants.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday granted a request by the Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. and others for a stay pending a review of the EPA's rule requiring the reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions at four electric generating units.

The EPA's plan is designed to reduce pollution from coal-fired power plants and industrial sources to improve visibility at federally managed wilderness areas, including the 59,000-acre Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge near Lawton. It would affect plants operated by OG&E at Red Rock and Muskogee and another operated by Public Service Co

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Submitted Jun 24, 2012 By: drpepperTX

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niceguytx Champion Author Houston Posts:13,690 Points:2,712,535 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Jun 29, 2012 1:53:14 PM Ignore niceguytx Report Abuse The government cannot keep up.
sparky808 Champion Author Honolulu Posts:2,998 Points:597,735 Joined:Sep 2011	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 1:36:04 PM Ignore sparky808 Report Abuse Thank you for posting.
drpepperTX Champion Author Texas Posts:8,939 Points:751,985 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 9:56:45 AM Ignore drpepperTX Report Abuse "Congrats on having a productive ranch. How big are LCRA's sludge ponds for settling out the fly-ash?"- Aviator Rob ================================================= Oh my! More bloviating fear monger talk from Rob. 83.87 acres Rob, no incidents and inspected monthly by engineers.LOL, next from the Rob "90% less pollutants? Sure. It's all in the ash now, thanks to the EPA mandated scrubbers. It just kept the pollution out of the air. It didn't make it go away. Oh, and that study doesn't consider CO2 as a pollutant. If CO2 isn't a pollutant than run your car with the garage door closed and get back to me." ================================================= Since airborne pollutants seem to be the concern, what's your point??? As o the silliness of you garage statement, anyhting will kill you in large enough quantity, by your logic H2O is a pollutant.Now for the ultimate in Eco=Imperialism, we get this from Rob- "And that last fact is truly stunning. What your telling me is that coal doesn't kill people, UNEMPLOYMENT kills people. Well, you got me there. I guess we better get more coal miners down into the mines. Especially after the cave-ins and black lung. Heck, coal mining will singlehandedly lower the unemployment rate. It'll also lower the US population at the same time. Let's also increase the tuna fleet workforce and the active duty military. These are fine jobs. Dangerous? Sure, but I guess that's not the point." ============================================= I am not telling you, research from John Hopkins is telling all of us.
remay Champion Author Houston Posts:6,963 Points:2,116,640 Joined:May 2006	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 6:56:23 AM Ignore remay Report Abuse Wow!
tomok Champion Author Portland Posts:32,987 Points:2,344,535 Joined:Aug 2006	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 4:27:06 AM Ignore tomok Report Abuse Reduce the pollution from all power or generated sources and any other source too. No acid rain from sulfur dioxide emissions. Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, and many other heavy metals present in our environment at too high of levels across the globe. Do you want to breathe the air in certain large cities where pollution has gone wild? Scrubbers on stacks and other necessary pollution control devices to help keep our air cleaner. Whatever the size or shape of the vehicle, Produce and ‘Drive’ vehicles with high MPG, are very safe and reliable, have a ‘reasonable’ cost and a good ‘value’ for the money. Consider using other forms of less expensive transportation to lower your cost, if possible. The price of fuel at the pump is too high! 12/22/2012!
NedW Champion Author Indianapolis Posts:5,609 Points:1,141,270 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 1:22:18 AM Ignore NedW Report Abuse Defund the EPA.
CartelBuster Veteran Author Detroit Posts:418 Points:1,579,010 Joined:May 2007	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:54:13 AM Ignore CartelBuster Report Abuse A court that applies common sense to their rulings, what a breath of "fresh air."
Aviator_Rob Champion Author New York Posts:3,795 Points:412,565 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:44:35 AM Ignore Aviator_Rob Report Abuse Believe me, Gmsclecarparts, it would be great if there was a dome that could keep in the air from the "common sense" states. That way, the rest of us wouldn't have to pay for your mistakes.
NavyStore Champion Author Seattle Posts:3,860 Points:2,075,370 Joined:Aug 2005	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:41:20 AM Ignore NavyStore Report Abuse Why would they need to limit the amount of pollutants that blow across all those wheat, soybean and cotton fields - plus all the Tyson chicken farms? Let the acid rain ruin everything, especially in Arkansas. Oh, Gmsclcarparts - thanks for proving that the vast majority of morons in Oklahoma are from OKC, and not Tulsa. [Edited by: NavyStore at 6/25/2012 12:44:07 AM EST]
Aviator_Rob Champion Author New York Posts:3,795 Points:412,565 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:41:01 AM Ignore Aviator_Rob Report Abuse LOL. Did you cut and paste that directly from the coal industry website, drpepperTX? You should ask them for a job. Let's address those "facts" one by one. Congrats on having a productive ranch. How big are LCRA's sludge ponds for settling out the fly-ash? The last one of those dams that burst in Kentucky washed away a town that was downhill from the powerplant. The resulting land is now a Superfund site. 90% less pollutants? Sure. It's all in the ash now, thanks to the EPA mandated scrubbers. It just kept the pollution out of the air. It didn't make it go away. Oh, and that study doesn't consider CO2 as a pollutant. If CO2 isn't a pollutant than run your car with the garage door closed and get back to me. Abundant and reliable? Sure but so is natural gas. Leave coal in the 19th Century where it belongs. Coal is secure? It's so secure that we're now selling it to China. Oh and energy security is overrated. That's what a strategic petroleum reserve is for. We can't be embargoed anymore. No country can afford to turn off the taps. Half of America's electricity? Not for long. We're building four times more natural gas-fired plants. It's not written anywhere that 50% of our energy MUST come from coal. Less C02 per KW? Sure but natural gas produces 80% less than coal so why would you even bring that up? Making a financial case for coal is like making a financial case for asbestos. I can hear the asbestos lobby now, "But asbestos is such a wonderful fire retardent! Banning it will put millions of asbestos workers out of work!" It's also the same argument that coachmakers made when Henry Ford rolled out the Model T. "What will all the buggy whip manufacturers do?" And that last fact is truly stunning. What your telling me is that coal doesn't kill people, UNEMPLOYMENT kills people. Well, you got me there. I guess we better get more coal miners down into the mines. Especially after the cave-ins and black lung. Heck, coal mining will singlehandedly lower the unemployment rate. It'll also lower the US population at the same time. Let's also increase the tuna fleet workforce and the active duty military. These are fine jobs. Dangerous? Sure, but I guess that's not the point. I guess the moral of the story is, "Do your civic duty and breathe in more pollution. How else will we save Social Security? We can't afford to send out checks to all of you.
Gmsclecarparts All-Star Author Oklahoma City Posts:707 Points:123,195 Joined:Jun 2007	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:24:40 AM Ignore Gmsclecarparts Report Abuse Air quality is fine in Oklahoma! Radical tree hugger eco imperialists are not welcome here. We take care of our own, & will side with other common sense & conservative principled people like our brothers in Texas.
Spankster85 Champion Author Chicago Posts:1,719 Points:355,990 Joined:Nov 2011	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:22:33 AM Ignore Spankster85 Report Abuse Okay.
Aviator_Rob Champion Author New York Posts:3,795 Points:412,565 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:19:07 AM Ignore Aviator_Rob Report Abuse I guess there's a lot of coal under Lexington, Number43. You have a personal stake in coal? I could see that affecting your judgement. The Mexicans drug lords have a stake in moving tons of coke and weed into this country, too. Doesn't make it right for them. It shouldn't make it right for you. You wanna leave your lights and air conditioning on all day while you're out of the house? Fine. But don't expect that rock bottom electricity costs to be a God-given right. And I don't wanna have to breathe your foul pollution. Just remember the old saying. "The right to swing your fist ends at my nose." Any farther and we both have a problem. Oh and by the way, here in New York State, we have the option to have our electricity sourced from renewable energy. You can either have a mix of hydro, biogas, and wind or 100% wind. It costs an extra seven bucks per month on average and I sleep VERY soundly. Does your state offer its customers a choice? They should. This is America where we love our freedom.
Number43 Champion Author Lexington Posts:8,692 Points:1,637,195 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:09:21 AM Ignore Number43 Report Abuse IF you don't want to use it (electricity) fly boy, don't. we could all use a break from ultra liberal new york. Why don all you liberals just stop using electricity all together. You know how bad it is . Give the rest of us a break from all this holier than thou crap.Or just put wind mills out to sea. You want us to do without but your state is one of the biggest users. Ship all of those energy driven jobs some place that is not afraid to turn on a light. MIchigan and ohio could use all of those evil energy driven jobs. Take them from NY and send them to the good hard working, sensible people of Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri.
jrsva Champion Author Virginia Posts:9,847 Points:1,612,025 Joined:Jan 2006	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:09:06 AM Ignore jrsva Report Abuse Coal is abundant but it is dirty and dangerous. It is unlikely that Oklahoma power plants run on Appalachian coal but coal operators have devastated vast areas of this region with their mountaintop-removal mining practices. A total ban on this technique is the only sane way forward; sadly, that would also cost jobs.
treeguy Veteran Author Wisconsin Posts:267 Points:653,390 Joined:Aug 2005	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:07:24 AM Ignore treeguy Report Abuse What will happen without the EPA? The energy industry will have no regulation. It's called anarchy.
rahcat Champion Author Grand Rapids Posts:2,463 Points:661,975 Joined:Jan 2010	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:04:33 AM Ignore rahcat Report Abuse Old News
PrinceLH Champion Author Ontario Posts:2,687 Points:537,070 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:02:24 AM Ignore PrinceLH Report Abuse Agree with the courts.
regout Champion Author Quebec Posts:2,950 Points:831,730 Joined:May 2010	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:02:19 AM Ignore regout Report Abuse Good.
DASGOLf Rookie Author Lansing Posts:43 Points:4,785 Joined:Jun 2012	Message Posted: Jun 25, 2012 12:00:00 AM Ignore DASGOLf Report Abuse Clinging on to old ways of doing things just because it's easier and ignoring what's right, is ignorant.
Hewy67 Sophomore Author Grand Rapids Posts:156 Points:442,795 Joined:Apr 2008	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:59:38 PM Ignore Hewy67 Report Abuse right
drpepperTX Champion Author Texas Posts:8,939 Points:751,985 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:58:18 PM Ignore drpepperTX Report Abuse @ aviator rob, I sure do AND one of my ranches is directly downwind of the prevailing winds of one of LCRA's coal fired plants. My land is extremely productive, the water wells continue to run clean and clear, and the wildlife is abundant. Here's a few facts for you aviator, you might try paying attention to fact and the rule of law over fear and paranoia: Fact: Today's coal fired plants emit 90% less air pollutants than the previous generation. Fact: Coal is an abundant source of proven reliability. Fact: Coal is a secure domestic energy source, the US has 1/4 of the world's known supply and there's enough to power our needs for 250 years or more. Fact: Coal fired plants supply almost half of America's electricity. Fact: Due to increased efficiency today's coal plants emit less CO2 per KW produced. Fact: A Penn State University Study concluded that coal adds more than $1 TRILLION to the GDP PER YEAR, $360 Billion in extra household income PER YEAR and over 6.5 MILLION jobs. Fact: The PSU study also found that if coal plant reduction is just 33%, $160 BILLION would be lost in GDP, household income would be reduced by $64 BILLION and 1.2 MILLION jobs would be lost. Fact: Johns Hopkins University research shows the effect the above unemployment would have...it would also negatively affect health. Johns Hopkins University conducted the first major research on the impacts of unemployment on public health for the Joint Economic Committee of Congress in 1979 and 1984. In the 1984 study, it was found that every 1 percent increase in unemployment resulted in a 2 percent increase in premature deaths. The President's war on coal using the EPA as his weapon will have negligible effects on CO2 emmissions, will impose huge costs on an already fragile economy and bring about more health issues for Americans than reducing coal use will stop.
tz2001 Veteran Author Virginia Posts:268 Points:318,805 Joined:Sep 2003	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:58:14 PM Ignore tz2001 Report Abuse The Eco-Morons will be up in arms.
DandyDapple All-Star Author North Dakota Posts:715 Points:310,070 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:58:05 PM Ignore DandyDapple Report Abuse OMG 2012 ...
PathTrack Champion Author Twin Cities Posts:1,202 Points:134,615 Joined:Jan 2005	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:54:40 PM Ignore PathTrack Report Abuse The EPA does not care about who pays for anything. Money is not their concern
MRHONEST Champion Author Illinois Posts:2,212 Points:1,675,680 Joined:May 2007	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:53:44 PM Ignore MRHONEST Report Abuse Really
MrLuigi Champion Author Massachusetts Posts:4,768 Points:965,710 Joined:Jun 2005	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:53:32 PM Ignore MrLuigi Report Abuse anyone who knocks the EPA down a notch is ok with me...
granitestater Champion Author New Hampshire Posts:8,817 Points:1,429,775 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:53:10 PM Ignore granitestater Report Abuse Could be worse...
texashoudini Champion Author Austin Posts:2,624 Points:1,095,855 Joined:Jun 2009	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:52:29 PM Ignore texashoudini Report Abuse Are we trying to avoid a black-out in Oklahoma?
PettyEddie2012 Champion Author New York City Posts:1,739 Points:348,390 Joined:May 2012	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:51:37 PM Ignore PettyEddie2012 Report Abuse Coal, energy for the FUTURE
Bigtex09 Champion Author Dallas Posts:4,283 Points:1,158,310 Joined:Oct 2009	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:51:36 PM Ignore Bigtex09 Report Abuse Wow
cheap59 Champion Author Michigan Posts:4,240 Points:961,520 Joined:May 2010	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:49:10 PM Ignore cheap59 Report Abuse And how do they expect OK to get power?
Aviator_Rob Champion Author New York Posts:3,795 Points:412,565 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:47:56 PM Ignore Aviator_Rob Report Abuse I'm sorry , drpepperTX, but I have to ask. Do you know anything about coal-fired powerplants? Let's, for a minute, ignore the gas emissions that come out of the smokestack. Do you have any idea what is in the fly-ash that needs to be scraped out of the boiler fire box? This stuff is beyond toxic. It's loaded full of mercury and heavy metals that used to just go up the chimney, which was bad enough. But since coal plants now have scrubbers to keep this stuff from escaping, it's part of the coal ash. If anyone who doubts this has some land, ask the local coal plant to send ou enough ash to cover your land three feet deep. Then see if anything will grow there. Oh yeah, and stop drinking your well water because it WILL be contaminated.
Red7002011 Champion Author Mississippi Posts:3,327 Points:667,745 Joined:Jul 2011	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:47:49 PM Ignore Red7002011 Report Abuse Really!
WinderGuy Champion Author Georgia Posts:2,864 Points:931,630 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:47:36 PM Ignore WinderGuy Report Abuse Ok
gilfarm Champion Author Alabama Posts:6,791 Points:1,947,865 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:47:36 PM Ignore gilfarm Report Abuse EPA is crazy!
Toppers Champion Author Atlanta Posts:9,007 Points:2,469,720 Joined:Mar 2005	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:46:53 PM Ignore Toppers Report Abuse Hope this speeds up the alternative process
bradley1969 Champion Author Wisconsin Posts:1,528 Points:330,080 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:46:20 PM Ignore bradley1969 Report Abuse Good 1 AVIATOR BOB . 2 good post's.
mikaye Champion Author Cleveland Posts:3,829 Points:864,435 Joined:Jun 2010	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:43:40 PM Ignore mikaye Report Abuse visible pollution maybe better than some gases released by cleaner plants
Aviator_Rob Champion Author New York Posts:3,795 Points:412,565 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:40:01 PM Ignore Aviator_Rob Report Abuse clermont40miles, if you were on the USA Olympic Team, your event would be "Jumping to Conclusions". Do you seriously believe that you'd be better off without the EPA? What's your plan to keep the air from turning brown? The honor system?
drpepperTX Champion Author Texas Posts:8,939 Points:751,985 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:37:44 PM Ignore drpepperTX Report Abuse OGW posts "Regardless, coal is one of the dirtiest products to be used for energy production and should be BANNED, I wonder how much they paid off the judge of the appeals court to overturn this. The courts are suppose to protect peoples lives not endanger them, this judge should be fired!" ================ It is posts like this that not only reflect ignorance but arrogance of the Eco-imperialist movement. First it is judges, here's the list. Chief Judge Mary Beck Briscoe Senior Judge William J. Holloway, Jr. Senior Judge Robert H. McWilliams, Jr. Senior Judge Monroe G. McKay Senior Judge Stephanie K. Seymour Senior Judge John C. Porfilio Senior Judge Stephen H. Anderson Senior Judge Bobby R. Baldock Senior Judge Wade Brorby Senior Judge David M. Ebel Judge Paul J. Kelly, Jr. Judge Carlos F. Lucero Judge Michael R. Murphy Judge Harris L Hartz Judge Terrence L. O'Brien Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich Judge Neil M. Gorsuch Judge Jerome A. Holmes Judge Scott M. Matheson, Jr. Second the Courts duty is to UPHOLD THE LAWS OF THE LAND. Obviously Eco-imperialists just find that laws get in the way of their agenda. Freedoms be damned.
Amanstrom Champion Author Los Angeles Posts:1,857 Points:537,805 Joined:Jul 2011	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:37:28 PM Ignore Amanstrom Report Abuse Interesting
Aviator_Rob Champion Author New York Posts:3,795 Points:412,565 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:34:37 PM Ignore Aviator_Rob Report Abuse Number43, it's absolutely stunning that you would invest so much effort in defending coal fired, polluting powerplants. Do you honestly believe that the operators of plants like that spend one second thinking about you? Only if you're green and named Benjamin Franklin.
LegoVasavouchi Champion Author Oklahoma Posts:1,659 Points:114,390 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:33:09 PM Ignore LegoVasavouchi Report Abuse Fascinating.
REKEY Champion Author South Carolina Posts:8,574 Points:1,698,440 Joined:May 2008	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:33:04 PM Ignore REKEY Report Abuse Geez, caving in!
fuelsaverMN Champion Author Twin Cities Posts:2,282 Points:559,080 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:32:45 PM Ignore fuelsaverMN Report Abuse Let them do whats right for business.
MustangRacing Champion Author Virginia Posts:1,838 Points:648,485 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:32:28 PM Ignore MustangRacing Report Abuse too late to post.
Aviator_Rob Champion Author New York Posts:3,795 Points:412,565 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:31:55 PM Ignore Aviator_Rob Report Abuse Believe it or not, CatMan623, even though the air quality in China is horrible, at least they're spending real money on renewable energy. While we complain about Solyndra's $500 million loss, China last year gave $35 BILLION in outright grants to their solar industry. At that rate, China will be cleaner than us in a decade. Oh, and they'll also be on the Moon in a decade. And that's no joke.
Aviator_Rob Champion Author New York Posts:3,795 Points:412,565 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:26:59 PM Ignore Aviator_Rob Report Abuse Gee OKRifle, I guess the people of Arkansas and Missouri should be thankful for your state's pollution. Maybe New Mexico and Colorado should rescind their pollution controls, too. Then the wind could really come sweeping down the plains.
Point__man Champion Author Raleigh Posts:4,330 Points:876,720 Joined:Oct 2010	Message Posted: Jun 24, 2012 11:26:23 PM Ignore Point__man Report Abuse Wonder how much Federal Funding they will lose by taking this action ;)