By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff
The drop in demand for fossil fuels is creating a glut of gasoline
and coal, prompting relief by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
state agencies, including in Rhode Island, that is likely to worsen air
pollution.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that coal
extraction is down 35 percent from a year ago. The reduced demand has led to
layoffs and some mines shutting down temporarily
because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Coal was struggling before the global health crisis, as other
power sources, such as solar, wind, and natural gas, attained a greater share
of energy production.
Last year, coal accounted for 23.5 percent of U.S. power generation.
But during the week of April 8, coal fell to 15 percent of energy production,
dropping below renewable-energy production for the first time, according to a report by the Rhodium
Group.
Coal-energy analysts say
coal plants may simply operate at a loss to burn off their excess stockpiles,
or the plants may be retired, as several have in recent years.
The coal industry is getting help from and criticism for receiving federal stimulus funds. Disgraced former EPA director Scott Pruitt is now a lobbyist for the coal company Hallador Energy.
The Indiana-based mining company received money from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) despite the fact that companies of its size were supposed to be precluded from the payouts.
Speculation of corruption was also heightened by the fact that Hallador’s former top lobbyist now works for the U.S. Department of Energy.
The coal industry also cheered a recent move by
the Trump administration to weaken President Obama’s Mercury
and Air Toxics Standards. A 2016 provision forced coal plants to
reduce mercury emissions based on the costs incurred by harmful public-health
effects.
“No rule should be justified on co-benefits alone, and regulation
should never be used as a weapon to manipulate the energy market,” according to
a statement by the National Mining Association.
Petroleum demand has dropped as much as 50 percent, as motorists have been driving much less during the pandemic. Demand for jet fuel is down 40 percent and diesel use is down 8 percent, according to the EIA.
Continued drilling and declining sales have overflowed petroleum
storage capacity, creating an excess of gasoline. Seeking relief, gas-station
trade groups successfully lobbied the EPA in March to delay the mandated
seasonal switch to a gasoline mix that reduces air pollution during warm
weather.
Winter-blend gasoline contains a higher volume of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) that help vehicles start and run more smoothly when it’s cold.
Summer gasoline contains fewer VOCs, which on warm days are a major contributor
to ground-level ozone, or smog.
Summer gasoline is supposed to start flowing from pumps in May,
but on April 7 the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management issued a
waiver order to comply with the EPA decision
that allows sales of higher-polluting winter gasoline to continue.
“RIDEM is aware that distributors are experiencing an over-supply
of winter gasoline relative to this time of year, making it difficult or
impossible to shift supplies to a lower volatility fuel,” DEM director Janet
Coit writes in the order.
The winter-fuel exemption is in effect until May 20 and is likely
to be extended, according to DEM.
The American Lung Association criticized the EPA’s decision,
saying it will increase the risk of respiratory infections.
In it’s 2020 State of the Air report
for Rhode Island, the American Lung Association noted that long-term exposure
to particle pollution and VOCs increases the death rate among COVID-19
patients.
"There is no short cut, no alternative to breathing,”
Terrance Healey, director of thoracic radiology at Rhode Island Hospital, is
quoted in the report. “We must do more to protect our lungs from anything
that puts our ability to breathe at risk, be it a virus, tobacco smoke, or
air pollution."
