The country's largest coal producing state is desperate to keep the struggling industry going. Wyoming is investing big to try to clean up coal's carbon emissions, even as many say it's too late.
The immediate problem with coal isn't the emissions or the waste produced, as much as its the fixed output of the plants that is of low value for much of the day - the plants cost more to run than they can make in electricity sales.
Coal is dying just like nuclear power - if it was the emissions that were killing the plants, then nuclear power would be winning. If you don't have a marketable product that you shouldn't be forcing consumers to buy it. The future is very low cost renewables, along with mid market natural gas turbines and especially peaking natural gas plants.
If coal can adapt to provide more mid market power than it has a brighter future - even without carbon sequestration. But getting coal to burn cleanly and reliability under mid market conditions is challenging - existing coal plant designs don't ramp well - and they pollute a lot more and suffer much higher breakdowns when they are forced to regularly change output. But if scientists can figure out how to make next generation plants ramp better than coal has a future at least in coal country, especially sited on existing facilities.
While touring fire-ravaged California, Donald Trump downplayed the role a warming planet could have in the devastation, suggesting temperatures will "start getting cooler" and that the recent conflagrations was a lack of proper forest management.
"I don't think science knows actually," he said when told that science didn't agree with his conclusions
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Joe Biden went on the attack, accusing Trump of ignoring a "central crisis" facing the nation.
"If you give a climate arsonist four more years in the White House, why would anyone be surprised if we have more of America ablaze?" he asked. "If you give a climate denier four more years in the White House, why would anyone be surprised when more of America is underwater?"
Scientists say wildfires are all but inevitable, and the main drivers are plants and trees drying out due to climate change and more people living closer to areas that burn. And while forest thinning and controlled burns are solutions, they have proven challenging to implement on the scale needed to combat those threats.
ASCEND THE 145 WHITE MARBLE steps at the Lincoln memorial, step forward into the shrine room with the seated Great Emancipator, and then direct your gaze down at the floor. Unseen beneath the Tennessee pink marble floor lies a cavernous three-story, 43,800-square-foot basement with architecture that wouldn’t look out of place in a World War II bunker.
Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Next Tuesday is Autumn 🍂. Clear and 41 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌄There is a north-northwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃.
A cold start to the morning. 🌅 First really chilly morning of the year but then again next week starts calendar autumn. 🍂 Definitely should be good for the colors up north – if I head north next weekend might be close to peak color in the Adirondacks. Then everything gets brown and gray. Snuggled under the covers in bed 🛏, just got up to start the coffee ☕.
Hazy this morning from the left coast wild fires 🔥. I still think New York should sue the left coast for air pollution from the wild fires, although at least it’s fairly high in the atmosphere so it’s not breathed much locally. It seems like air pollution from wildfires seems to be dimming the sky a lot more in autumn locally. Crystal clear blue skies of September are increasingly rare. 🚶🏻 Still a nice day for the morning walk though.
Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 67 degrees at 3pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 28th. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 78 degrees. The record high of 92 was set in 1915.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:51 pm with sun having an altitude of 50.2° from the due south horizon (-20.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:29 pm with the sun in the west (268°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (275°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:06 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:32 pm, which is one minute and 46 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:08 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 61 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 5 mph. Good weather for enjoying the sunset. Today will have 12 hours and 28 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 50 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 46 degrees at 4am. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 28th. South wind 3 to 7 mph. In 2019, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 55 degrees. The record low of 32 occurred back in 1964.
Cool this weekend with temperatures running 9 degrees below normal but otherwise sunny. 😃 Saturday, sunny, with a high near 61. Maximum dew point of 36 at 6am. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 63. Maximum dew point of 37 at 6pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 71 degrees.
As previously noted, next Tuesday is Autumn 🍂 when the sun will be setting at 6:52 pm with dusk at 7:20 pm. On that day in 2019, we had hot weather, mostly sunny, shallow fog and temperatures between 87 and 51 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 70 degrees. We hit a record high of 95 back in 1895. Before my time.
