Isn coal the cheapest source of energy?
The cost of constructing coal plants has skyrocketed in recent years. The rising price of building materials such as steel coupled with escalating transportation costs have driven up the price-tag on coal plants proposed around the country. Recent court rulings and shifting political momentum at the state and federal level all but guarantee that global warming pollution will be regulated in the very near future. Global warming regulations could come in the form of a direct tax on global warming pollutants or through a “cap and trade” system where Alliant will be forced to purchase credits that will allow them to pollute. Regardless of the system used to regulate global warming pollutants, Alliant’s proposed coal plant will become very expensive to operate under the new laws. In the end Alliant will try to pass these costs on to the consumers, making their customers pay for their unnecessary pollution. These factors and others have caused banks, investors and other utilities around the
