Poland Ready To Double Size Of Largest Coal Power Plant, But Will Wait For Climate Conference To End

[hatrack]

A few weeks after it finishes hosting United Nations talks on limiting fossil-fuel emissions, Poland may decide to double the size of one of its biggest coal-burning power plants. Prime Minister Donald Tusk in June revived a $3.8 billion plan to expand the Opole electricity plant to guarantee security of power supplies, as it uses domestically mined coal. Next month, a final decision on the project is to be made by a government utility that owns Opole.

The facility, along with Poland’s dependence on coal to produce 87 percent of its electricity, raises questions about the nation’s stewardship of the annual UN global warming talks under way in Warsaw. As host, Poland is responsible for helping craft the final agreement. Environmental groups are concerned it may be weak because of the nation’s reliance on coal, the most polluting of major energy sources worldwide.

“The Polish government support for coal will not help to convince poor countries that it is committed” to advance the fight against global warming, said Wendel Trio, EU director at Climate Action Network, a pressure group attending the meeting.

The government doesn’t see any inconsistency between its own policies and hosting the UN talks. “You can’t shift from fossil fuels to renewables overnight,” Poland’s Deputy Environment Minister Beata Jaczewska said in an interview. “We need to replace old plants and we do that with climate in mind: new power units will emit much less carbon dioxide.”

EDIT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-13/black-treasure-in-poland-clouds-un-warming-negotiations.html

[CFLDem]

1. Climate talks are like confessionals

in that it's a way to feel superficially better about past sins without any concrete promise of actually avoiding them in the future.

That's because change must be organic. Which will happen as green technologies mature.

Until then, the patronizing climate alarmist circle jerking will continue...

[NickB79]

2. They're using the same logic as Germany

“You can’t shift from fossil fuels to renewables overnight,” Poland’s Deputy Environment Minister Beata Jaczewska said in an interview. “We need to replace old plants and we do that with climate in mind: new power units will emit much less carbon dioxide.”

I've seen that claim, almost word-for-word in fact, used by posters right here on DU to defend Germany's new coal-fired plants.

[Nihil]

3. They don't even try to conceal it these days do they?

> The facility, along with Poland’s dependence on coal to produce 87 percent of its electricity,
> raises questions about the nation’s stewardship of the annual UN global warming talks
> under way in Warsaw. As host, Poland is responsible for helping craft the final agreement.
> Environmental groups are concerned it may be weak because of the nation’s reliance on coal,
> the most polluting of major energy sources worldwide.

Don't worry, Poland is going to be neither forgotten nor alone: both Germany & Japan are providing
sterling support for their increased reliance on burning coal.

Both, in turn, are being ably supported by lots of hand-waves and "But you don't understand ..." fossil-fuel
sycophants whose only positive message has been their success in getting nuclear shut down.


"Double the size of one of its biggest coal-burning power plants". Yeah, why not? It's not as if
anyone important gives a fuck about the future ...