How the U.S. Clean Air Act lets closed coal plants keep polluting for years

Hatfield’s Ferry Energy Station, a Pennsylvania coal-fired energy plant, stopped producing electrical energy in 2013. Its closure got here in a wave of coal-plant shutdowns triggered by competitors from cheaper, cleaner pure gasoline and incentives within the U.S. Clear Air Act.

However the facility’s legacy of smog air pollution continued lengthy after it closed.

That’s as a result of a loophole in clean-air rules allowed Hatfield’s Ferry to gather emissions allowances underneath a cap-and-trade program for 5 years after it shut down. The plant’s proprietor then offered these credit to different vegetation, which may use them to remain in compliance after they exceed their very own regulatory finances of allowances. Among the many beneficiaries: the most important emitter of smog-causing gasoline in America’s energy sector.