by DCG
Man on a mission to destroy the US coal industry.
From Yahoo: Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, will donate $500m to a new campaign to close every coal-fired power plant in the United States and halt the growth of natural gas, his foundation said on Thursday.
The new campaign, called Beyond Carbon, is designed to help eliminate coal by focusing on state and local governments. The effort will bypass Washington, where Mr. Bloomberg has said national action appears unlikely because of a divided Congress and a president who denies the established science of climate change.
“We’re in a race against time with climate change, and yet there is virtually no hope of bold federal action on this issue for at least another two years,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement. “Mother Nature is not waiting on our political calendar, and neither can we.”
Donald Trump has made reviving what he has called “clean, beautiful coal” a cornerstone of his energy agenda.
A spokesperson for Mr. Bloomberg said most of the money would be spent over the next three years, although the time frame could be extended.
The donations will fund lobbying efforts by environmental groups in state legislatures, city councils and public utility commissions that aim to close coal plants and replace them with wind, solar and other renewable power. Part of the cash will also go towards efforts to elect local lawmakers who prioritize clean energy.
The campaign will be based on the need to avoid the most dangerous effects of climate change but will also emphasise the economic benefits of switching to clean energy.
More than 280 coal plants, about 40 per cent of the US coal fleet, have either closed or announced plans to close since 2010. This new campaign aims to shut down the remaining 241 plants in the country by 2030.
Read the whole story here.
DCG