Over 30 new coal-fired power plants have been built or are currently under construction in the United States since 2008; the industry’s largest expansion in over twenty years.

New coal plants are being built across swaths of the Mid-West and Southeast to take advantage of the plentiful coal resources in the United States. Utilities believe that coal is cheaper than natural gas and nuclear power, and more consistent than intermittent renewables such as solar and wind.

All together, the 16 large plants in operation and the 16 new plants under construction will generate approximately 17,900 MW of electricity. That is enough to power 15.6 million homes, or roughly the combined number of homes in California and Arizona.

The BP oil spill and the tragic coal mine accident in West Virginia have increased public awareness of the social and environmental costs of fossil fuels. However, based on this recent expansion, it appears the coal industry is not convinced that the U.S. will implement legislation to regulate carbon emissions in the near future.

“Building a coal-fired power plant today is betting that we are not going to put a serious financial cost on emitting carbon dioxide,” warned Severin Borenstein, director of the Energy Institute at UC-Berkeley. It is estimated these new 32 coal plants will emit about 125 million tons of greenhouse gases every year, the equivalent of adding 22 million vehicles to the nation’s roadways.

Despite the Obama administration’s dedication of $3.4 billion in stimulus funds to “clean coal” research, none of these new plants incorporate the experimental technology, which filters out carbon before it is emitted into the atmosphere. New investments in traditional coal plants amount to more than $35 billion.

John Grasser, a spokesman for the Department of Energy, acknowledged that these new plants were a “missed chance” to incorporate carbon-limiting technologies into construction. “This is not something that’s going to happen tomorrow,” he remarked, warning that wide-spread carbon neutralizing technologies, he warned, are at least 15-20 years away.

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Figures released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicate that stronger economic activity and use of traditional energy such as coal and natural gas will lift U.S. carbon emissions in 2010.

Fossil-fuel related emissions may rise by 3.4%, and emissions from the industrial and electric power sectors may rise by 3.9%, according to the EIA.  Coal-related emissions alone are on track to rise by 6% this year.

Despite these projected increases, total U.S. carbon emissions for 2010 and 2011 will still fall below 2008 levels, (or any year dating back to 1999.)

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The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that King Abdullah has ordered a halt to new oil exploration to preserve the Kingdom’s vast hydrocarbon resources.

“I told them the Cabinet that I have ordered a halt to all oil explorations so part of this wealth is left for our sons and successors,” King Abdullah told Saudi scholars studying in Washington.  However, a senior oil ministry official told Zawya Dow Jones that the King’s words should not be interpreted as a full-fledged ban, but rather as a warning that future explorations should be carried out mindfully with an eye towards future generations.

Saudi Arabia possesses the world’s largest recoverable oil resources with 260.1 billion barrels at the end of 2009.  It is the largest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and recently announced the discovery of a new oil field and a non-associated gas field to add it its substantial holdings.  Saudi Arabia pumped an average of 8.26 million barrels a day in June 2010, about 209,000 barrels above its target.

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Achim Steiner, the head of the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP), says the world needs a fresh infusion of investment in the new “green economy.” So far, nations around the world have pledged $500 billion for “green spending” on a wide variety of projects, from solar plants to transportation sector initiatives.  However large that number appears, Steiner warns that it is still not sufficient.

Of the $500 billion pledged, 40% of funds comes from China, which means many developed countries are falling short in their commitment to a green economy, Steiner says.  In 2008, the UNEP called for a global investment of $750 billion, equivalent to 1% of global GDP to be funneled into a “Global Green New Deal.”

“The green economy is not a luxury, but a 21st century imperative on a planet of six billion, rising to 9 billion in just 40 years,” said Steiner and Pavan Sukhdev, leader of UNEP’s Green Economy Initiative in a statement released in advance of this weekend’s G20 Summit in Toronto.

G20 delegates re-affirmed their pledge to phase out the “inefficient” subsidies to the fossil fuel industry,  which by some estimates amount to $300-$500 billion/year.  The International Energy Agency estimates that elimination of these subsidies could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 7% over the next ten years.

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The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is urging G20 nations to end subsidies for fossil fuels and to follow through with the pledge made after last year’s gathering in Toronto to phase out these massive subsidies over the near- to medium- term.

OECD chief  Angel Gurría calls these subsidies, which by some estimates may be as much as $557 billion a year in developing nations and over $100 billion in the industrialized world, a “wasteful use of scarce budget resources.”  There is a contradiction, he says, because”many governments are giving subsidies to fossil fuel production and consumption that encourage greenhouse gas emissions, at the same time they are spending on projects to promote clean energy.”

According to some estimates, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies may help to reduce total global greenhouse emissions by 10% from their expected 2050 levels.  This would greatly assist  G20 nations with other policy initiatives to mitigate the effects of global warming.

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