NASA scientist urges end to new coal-plant construction due to global warming

onFeb 27, 2007 @ 08:37 PST

A recent study by the U.S. Department of Energy, cited in an Associated Press report in the Houston Chronicle, said 159 coal-fired plants are scheduled to be built over the next decade, enough to power 96-million houses.

Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, said an end to coal burning is the No. 1 solution to global warming; so far, no coal-fired plants can capture carbon dioxide emissions so they are not released into the atmosphere.

While burning oil and natural gas also release carbon dioxide, Hansen said, they will run out and there’s more coal to burn and pollute the Earth, so it’s more of a threat.

His call coincides with a decision by the private equity group buying TXU, a massive Texas-based utility, to halt plans to build eight new coal-fired power plants, not to propose new coal-fired plants outside Texas and to support mandatory national caps on emissions linked to global warming.

By Bill Miller

Carney Government Knew Carbon Capture Was ‘Very Limited,’ Docs Show

ByGeoff Dembicki

onFeb 20, 2026 @ 06:01 PST

Briefing notes obtained by DeSmog reveal the Carney government had major knowledge gaps about CCS even as it made the technology central to its climate plan.

Series: Mark Carney’s Climate Betrayal

Series: Carney's Climate Betrayal

Analysis

Alberta Separatism Has Always Been About Joining Trump’s America

ByMitch Anderson

onFeb 19, 2026 @ 07:22 PST

Leaders of the Alberta separatist movement are insisting they do not want to become the U.S.’s 51st state, but their actions (and own words) say otherwise.