Overnight Energy: EPA head calls coal ‘no longer marketable’

COAL IS KING NO MORE: The chief of President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency warned Thursday that coal is “not necessarily the path to the future” for the United States.

Speaking to Facebook in Paris, EPA administrator Gina McCarthy said the fuel is not as in demand as it once was because of cheaper and cleaner alternatives.

{mosads}She predicted China, a top polluter and coal user, will soon begin reducing its coal usage in the energy sector alongside the U.S.

“We know now, however, as China does, that it’s not necessarily the path to the future,” McCarthy said from Paris, where she’s taking part in the United Nations climate conference.

“We know in the U.S. that we are transitioning away from coal because coal is no longer marketable. We have cleaner natural gas, and we have opportunities for low-carbon sources like renewables and using energy efficiency to lower energy demand.”

The United States currently gets less than 40 percent of its electricity from coal, down from about 70 percent in 2005, according to the Energy Information Administration. The EPA is set to implement the Clean Power Plan, a regulation designed to clean up the American electricity sector.

Coal groups and supporters — many of whom have accused Obama of waging a “war on coal” — fired back on Thursday.

“No other energy source compares to coal when it comes to reliability and affordability,” the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity said in a statement.

“Almost one year to the day that she recognized the need for coal to be ‘a continued part of our future,’ she is conveniently backtracking to better politicize the president’s agenda on the world stage.”

Read more here.

VOLVO LEAVES MINING GROUP: Volvo Construction Equipment, part of Sweden-based Volvo Group, said Thursday that it’s leaving the National Mining Association (NMA).

The company cited the NMA’s position and lobbying against the Obama administration’s climate change policies in its decision to leave the organization.

“We do not share the NMA’s view on climate change, nor their opinion about the politics on climate change driven by American policy,” Volvo spokeswoman Kina Wileke said in a statement, adding that the company supports what President Obama is doing.

The decision was first reported by Sveriges Television, the state-owned network of Sweden.  

The network had approached Niklas Gustavsson, Volvo’s sustainability director, at the climate talks in Paris to ask about its NMA membership, and Gustavsson soon said the company was withdrawing.

The NMA has taken a leading role in efforts to fight the Environmental Protection Agency’s climate rule for power plants, arguing that it would decimate the coal industry.

NMA spokesman Luke Popovich confirmed Thursday afternoon that Volvo left the group.

Volvo, which reported about $33.2 billion in revenue last year, makes heavy equipment like trucks, buses and construction vehicles. It is separate from Volvo Cars, which makes passenger vehicles.

COAL BOSS BASHES TRUMP: Bob Murray, head of Murray Energy Corp., doesn’t think business magnate Donald Trump is the right man to be president.

Murray, a polarizing figure who calls President Obama “the greatest destroyer America has ever had,” told Columbus Business First that GOP front-runner Trump “alienates too many people to get his point out.”

He thinks Josh Kasich, governor of his home state of Ohio, is the best candidate, while God should “fear for America and Ohio,” should Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton be elected.

TONIGHT IN THE HILL: The issue of oil exports has emerged as one of the key aspects of a year-end congressional fiscal fight — and supporters are bullish on the prospects of passing the measure this year. Read more later tonight in The Hill.  

ON TAP FRIDAY: Friday is the self-imposed deadline for negotiators in Paris trying to strike a global agreement to fight climate change. Read more here about the progress of the talks.

AROUND THE WEB:

Crashing worldwide oil prices are significantly contributing to poor economic conditions in Iraq’s Kurdish region, The Associated Press reports.

Toyota just unveiled a new Prius, but with oil prices so low, its fortunes are looking dim, the Financial Times reports.

The Los Angeles Times profiles Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and highlights his new focus on climate change.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Thursday’s stories …

-Sanders wants to put price on carbon pollution
-Clock ticking down on climate talks
-Groups press for super-PAC ads to carry Bloomberg’s name
-Wildlife agency seeks overhaul of refuge drilling rules
-EPA chief: Coal ‘no longer marketable’
-Volkswagen says staff started work on emissions cheat in 2005

Please send tips and comments to Timothy Cama, tcama@digital-stage.thehill.com; and Devin Henry, dhenry@digital-stage.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Timothy_Cama, @dhenry, @thehill