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exabrial 11 hours ago [-]
Take all of the ethanol subsidies and build nuclear, cover parking lots with solar.
This is all we want.
ViewTrick1002 3 hours ago [-]
Or build renewables and storage and get massively more energy, in a few years rather than in the 2040s.
Not sure where this fixation on new nuclear comes from?
karmakurtisaani 53 minutes ago [-]
It's the magic bullet that will solve emissions, I suppose because it's advanced technology and the hippies are against it.
Ignoring the enormous cost, and long build times, plus the fact that when it gets hot they have to be turned off like last Summer.
Yeah, they have their place, but renewables are the real hero here.
pstuart 10 hours ago [-]
Geothermal needs to enter the chat as well.
I'm not anti-nuclear (if it's "done right"), but the economics of it are not very competitive. I think it's a technology we should not abandon (I'd love to see SMRs find a way to be viable and secure).
exabrial 9 hours ago [-]
I would love the idea geothermal, I'm just not aware of a lot of places in the US that can take advantage of it :/
~182GW of coal generation capacity remains to be retired, as of this comment, per EIA's Form EIA-860 generator dataset. The DOE was illegally mandating must run for the below coal generators, which should now be able to close due to a recent judicial ruling.
J.H. Campbell Units 1, 2 and 3 in Michigan (1,331 MW)
Transalta Centralia Unit 2 in Washington (670 MW)
R.M. Schahfer Units 17 and 18 in Indiana (722 MW)
F.B. Culley Unit 2 in Indiana (90 MW)
Craig Unit 1 in Colorado (427 MW)
mc32 11 hours ago [-]
The increased demand in coal was, uhum, fueled primarily by data center energy demands. Along with coal, there was also an uptick in solar installations to meet DC energy needs. Given solar is cheaper, it stands to reason more solar will be built to meet DC energy demand.
pstuart 10 hours ago [-]
The increased use of coal was, uhum, dictated by the Trump administration. They are rabidly anti-renewals (too woke), and all in on fossil fuels.
And loosening pollution rules "because AI needs more power" should lead to torches and pitchforks.
tialaramex 2 hours ago [-]
Coal (and gas) has "owners" and so that means more wealthy people to give Trump gold trinkets and praise. Trump can turn $1M of tax into $500k wealth for a Coal mine owner, that owner can give Trump $100k "donation" and praise The Donald as the greatest President in history. No downside. Well, not for Donald.
I think the US is going to find itself with a bunch of stranded fossil fuel infrastructure (expensive but now worthless) and hyperinflation. Countries that ten years ago would see the US as an old ally which has fallen on hard times will instead see a traitor getting what was coming and turn a blind eye.
AuthAuth 11 hours ago [-]
a drop in the bucket
readthenotes1 9 hours ago [-]
They gave numbers for the increase in coal, but not the increase in CO2. It's hard to know what the impact is
AuthAuth 6 hours ago [-]
The impact is a drop in the bucket emissions wise.
karmakurtisaani 33 minutes ago [-]
Basically almost any emission is a "drop in the bucket", and yet the bucket is somehow full.
This is all we want.
Not sure where this fixation on new nuclear comes from?
Ignoring the enormous cost, and long build times, plus the fact that when it gets hot they have to be turned off like last Summer.
Yeah, they have their place, but renewables are the real hero here.
I'm not anti-nuclear (if it's "done right"), but the economics of it are not very competitive. I think it's a technology we should not abandon (I'd love to see SMRs find a way to be viable and secure).
Iceland on the other hand....
There's plenty of geothermal in the US to be tapped into, we just need to invest more in it. It then becomes the perfect baseload utility.
> US scraps limits on emissions from coal and gas power plants
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cmly433ke05vo
https://openenergyhub.ornl.gov/explore/dataset/eia-860-data/...
U.S. coal-fired generating capacity retired in 2025 was the least in 15 years - https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=67427 - April 13th, 2026
Planned retirements of U.S. coal-fired electric-generating capacity to increase in 2025 - https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=64604 - February 25, 2025
~182GW of coal generation capacity remains to be retired, as of this comment, per EIA's Form EIA-860 generator dataset. The DOE was illegally mandating must run for the below coal generators, which should now be able to close due to a recent judicial ruling.
Michigan coal plant [J.H. Campbell] set to close was illegally kept open - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49666023 - September 2026
And loosening pollution rules "because AI needs more power" should lead to torches and pitchforks.
I think the US is going to find itself with a bunch of stranded fossil fuel infrastructure (expensive but now worthless) and hyperinflation. Countries that ten years ago would see the US as an old ally which has fallen on hard times will instead see a traitor getting what was coming and turn a blind eye.