SUMMARY:
We, the Department of Lobby Energy (the DOLE), announces a 90–day finding on two petitions to list American coal (Ploratus Carbo Sacrilegus) (coal) as an endangered economic subspecies and designate critical habitat outside the Fossil Fuels EN of 2005, as amended (Act).
Although not listed as a species, coal is currently listed as threatened within the broader listing of Fossil Fuels. Based on our review, we find that current petitions present substantial scientific information indicating that coal may warrant listing as endangered. One of the petitions also requested the adding of nuclear (Absque Casus) as a subspecies in fossil fuels; however, we view this petition as without merit. With the publication of this notice, we are initiating a review of the status of coal to determine if listing coal as an endangered subspecies is warranted.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
We seek information on:
(1) The use of coal for power generation:
A) A 500 MW coal generator (an average size) uses about 3,900 tons of coal per day, or 1,430,000 tons of coal per year.
(2) The range of coal:
A) The average rail coal car carries 115 tons of coal. The average delivery to a 500MW unit is over 90 cars a day. The average haul for a coal car is 870 miles. Rail fuel efficiency varies from 156 to 512 ton-miles per gallon.
(3) Amount of remaining habitat:
A) There remains ~1,400 coal-fired generating units in the United States.
(4) The math:
A) Burning one (US) gallon of diesel emits 22.2 lbs of CO2
B) Burning one (short) ton of coal emits 5, 700 lbs (2.86 tons) of CO2
(5) Coal ash:
A) The waste formed by the burning of coal and captured by flue scrubbers is toxic to humans.
(6) Other natural or manmade factors affecting the species’ continued existence:
A) Hurricanes, disease, drought, floods, tornadoes, extinction, ocean acidification, air pollution.
(7) Other that might threaten its habitat:
A) The output of an average PV solar fab delivers the equivalent one coal generator (500 MW) per year.
B) The Bloombergification of coal.
BACKGROUND:
The Act requires that we make a finding on whether to list, delist, or reclassify this revenue species. Existing data presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted.
PREVIOUS ACTIONS:
• Fossil Fuels (Ill-bred Greedy Cartel) in North America were listed as a threatened species on August 29, 2005. We initiated a recovery program for Fossil Fuels in four broad regions of the country: TV, print, movies, and the Internet. In the financial markets, a recovery plan was developed specifically for coal, acknowledging and implementing a demographic-based fossil fuel recovery focus for coal.
• The 2008, the introduction of coal ash into portions of rural Tennessee forced EPA to address coal ash and its toxicity. Nationwide remediation attempts via lobbying, graft, and corporate pressure–claiming coal ash is good for you–seems to have failed.
• The 2011 Australian Coal Slaughter by weather and other natural events prompted the dissemination of information on anthropogenic forcing of the radiative balance and its causes to the general population. Naming coal as a key contributor, this series of events has also impacted coal’s long-term longevity. This we believe has also led to a neutering of the Australian Coal Lobby. These proceedings bode negatively for any long-term rebound for coal. Of less concern: The Australian Coal Slaughter also has led to the formation of an Australian carbon trading system, which is under attack by various forces allied with coal. In summary: The final outcome, for coal, in this, and other parts of the world, is without question.
• On March 10, 2011, we published a Final Environmental Impact Statement for Fossil Fuels and included a section we titled, ‘‘Reintroduction of Coal within its Historic Range of the Economy in the United States.’’ In it, after assessing potential lobbying revenue from coal, as well as media revenue bumps, and product tie-ins, we determined that: ‘‘Methods of ignoring, undermining, or falsifying science through the media, intimidation of researchers, lobbying, or any other perversions of the social systems has little impact on the long term viability of Fossil Fuels and its subspecies, oil, natural gas, diesel, gasoline, shale gas, and coal.”
• On July 1, 2011, we reclassified Fossil Fuels as endangered, except where it is already classified as pointless, or simply absurd.
SPECIES INFORMATION:
Coal is a distinct subspecies of fossil fuels. Coal is a rock. Historically, coal has been associated with deep holes in the ground or huge strip mines with high mortality rates. Usually mined by adults weighing 110–290 pounds, life expectancy for these adults is far below the average for the adult population of the United States. Integration of ecological, morphological, and genetic evidence supports several conclusions relevant to coal. First, there is agreement that coal is indistinguishable from other fossil fuels in its negative affect. This is based on environmental and climatic evidence. Second, other evidence suggests that coal exists across a wide section of the United States; however, we see evidence of decline across the entire range. Currently, coal only exists where government incentives or intense lobbying have been put in place to facilitate its continued procreation. During this event, corporate wolf packs establish territories, or home ranges, in which they hunt for coal. In this, coal is similar to shale gas. Recent studies have shown the preferred prey of coal to be green technology, independent scientific investigation, or any distributed generation system. Coal plants die from a variety of causes including human indignation, jury deliberation, economic injuries, interpack strife, fetal death, asthma, acid rain, and the truth. In the reintroduced “clean” coal population, causes of mortality have been largely human related. Additionally, reintroduced “clean” coal has recently been nullified by laughter, humiliation, management, or investment hunts. To date, coal has had a failure (mortality plus removal) rate too high for natural or unassisted population growth. The most recent end-of-year population survey documented slightly more than 1400 coal generators in the United States.
EVALUATION OF INFORMATION FOR THIS FINDING:
We assessed five threats (Factors A-E below), to coal. Some of which were initially evaluated when we reclassified Fossil Fuels as an EN (Environmental Nightmare) in 2011. The petitioners assert that listing coal as an endangered subspecies is both economically warranted and financially rewarding (Factor A) for politicians seeking office. The petitioners also assert the environmental threat, as well as potential infrastructure destruction, or climate modification (Factor B), are not currently considered a deterrent for restoration of Fossil Fuels, or coal. As the links and the underlying science remain under full-scale media attack. Further, the petitioners assert that flue scrubbers (Factor C), which are a recognized solution for some of coal’s negative atmospheric impacts, are virtually ignored by the public because: 1–They not supported by either industry or the utilities due to cost. 2– Flue scrubbers are responsible for the death-ponds of coal ash sprinkled throughout the United States.
Baseload myth propagation (Factor D) states that only coal, as a generation system, is viable as baseload; because it can be relied upon in all situations to provided steady power. As recent reports have indicted, baseload is now seen as a storage event and not a generation issue. Therefore, baseload can only be considered a positive contributor to coal’s longevity when used in conjunction with a vanishing paradigm. As the archaic paradigm fades, the baseload argument will turn 180 degrees from a longevity factor, to a key component in the extinction of coal. Finally, public attitudes toward coal (Factor E) were cited as another key factor in the long-term morbidity of coal. In fact, the 2005 (Katrina) rule anticipated that the potential for coal–human conflicts would increase as the effects of anthropogenic forcing of the radiative balance became clearer to the population.
Therefore, the petitioners assert that coal is due listing as endangered by four of the five factors (Factors A, C, D, E) as set forth above. The petitioners also assert that regulatory protections for clean air, a healthy environment, and advanced technology for power generation remain a detriment to the long-term survival of coal and should be curtailed by legislation. Finally, the petitioners assert that federal control of air, water, and land for the purpose of keeping the population healthy should be considered a “take” on the part of government affecting the continued existence of an industry (coal in this case). The petitioners therefore assert that citizen-based revenue (tax funds) be mandated for coal to insure its ongoing viability regardless of the social costs of coal as a power generation system.
It is important to mention that we already recognize the status of coal under the current listing of Fossil Fuels. However, our finding will determine whether listing of coal as a separate endangered subspecies is warranted. Our evaluation is presented below.
FINDING:
On the basis of our research, we have determined that the petitions present substantial scientific and humanitarian information for the classification of Fossil Fuels as endangered–throughout its entire range–is warranted. However, we have found that petitions to list coal, as a separate endangered revenue species, are not warranted. We find that all of the fossil fuels face extinction and should therefore be treated equally.
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