Fired up for new coal plant in Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia has given the green light for a large coal-burning plant to generate electricity. It's planned for the southwest corner of the state and is expected to require lots more Virginia coal. The utility has promised to burn only coal mined in Virginia Opponents say the plant will mean more mountaintop removal to get to the buried coal. More air pollution. Proponents say: more jobs and more energy. Electricity for 140 thousand homes. And so the arguments go, and perhaps lawsuits will follow.

The state agency approving the Virginia plant did require a 75% reduction in the proposed amount of CO2 to be released. The utility company hopes to get the plant online in 2012.

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Even one federal agency has warned that the proposed coal-burning plant would violate federal air pollution standards. Federal regs do NOT deal with CO2 at this time but with particulates, mercury, sulphur/oxygen compounds, nitrogen oxides and other power plant emissions.