Coal Gets Boost from EPA, Environmentalist

Forbes’ Michael Krancer reported that in a recent article, Armond Cohen, “a lifelong environmental organization lawyer and environmental group chief executive,” said that coal-fired power is poised to see exponential growth around the world. That, he believes, is positive because “reliable energy is a correlative of economic growth and human development.”

Further, Krancer notes, last Friday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final rule on carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). The key is that the rule “is, in essence, a get-out-of-jail-free card with respect to hazardous waste regulation.”

What does all this news mean for investors?

Wayne Gretzky once said, ‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.’ The same principle goes for investors. With the demand for coal power generation projected to be in unabated growth mode over the next decades, and with [carbon capture and sequestration] CCS technology here already, there is an obvious correlative growth potential for CCS and the investors who might embrace it. With U.S. government policies that reduce uncertainty and regulatory risk involved in CCS investments to boot, like the EPA’s rule issued last week, there’s even more upside. And, as we can see from Cohen’s analysis, sales of American CCS technologies overseas could potentially help reduce the U.S. trade deficit, too. Great investors will welcome and act on these developments.

Click here to read the full Forbes report.