US court halts Montana mine expansion: US District Judge Donald W. Molloy has ordered the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) to undertake a new environmental assessment of Signal Peak Energy’s proposed 175-million-ton (159 million tonnes) expansion of the Bull Mountains mine in Montana. Molloy dismissed Signal Peak Energy’s claim that the mine would have to close unless the development was approved, writing that the company had admitted it has sufficient reserves to operate for the two years the assessment is expected to take. A coalition of ranchers concerned about damage to water resources and environmental groups has challenged the mine expansion. Thermal coal from the mine is exported to Japan, South Korea, and Chile. (Daily Montanan, Earthjustice)

Teck fined over failure to install pollution control plant: The Canadian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy has fined Teck Coal C$16.5 million (US$13.1 million) for its failure to construct a water treatment capacity to process pollution from three separate catchment areas in the Elk Valley coalfield. The ministry penalised the company C$15.48 million (US$11.6 million) for failure to establish its Fording River South water treatment facility by December 31, 2018. Treatment of pollution from two other locations was due to be completed by the end of 2020 and 2022, respectively. The ministry noted that the maximum penalty was C$40,000 (US$30,000), with scope for an additional administrative penalty. The company proposed a maximum penalty of between C$1,000 to C$5,000 (US$750 to US$3747). The Ktunaxa Nation Council, representing four bands in British Columbia and two in Idaho and Montana, argued the failure to impose an administrative levy “after nearly three years of non-compliance and hundreds of thousands of kilograms of untreated contaminant release” would be inconsistent with the purposes of the Environmental Management Act and would “also undermine the integrity of the scheme by signalling to polluters that there is no consequence to consistent non-compliance.” (CBC, British Columbia Ministry of the Environment, Wildsight)

Australian coal baron drops appeal over recomendation to reject mine: Waratah Coal, a company owned by billionaire mining investor Clive Palmer, has withdrawn its appeal against a Queensland Land Court recommendation against granting a mining licence for the Galilee Coal Project. In November 2022, the President of the Queensland Land Court, Fleur Kingham, said the 1.58 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from the proposed 40 million tonnes a year thermal coal mine would pose an “unacceptable” risk to Queensland people and property. The challenge against the mine was filed by First Nations-led Youth Verdict and The Bimblebox Alliance. Kingham said the mine would “narrow the options” for achieving the Paris Agreement goals, resulting in the potential displacement and destruction of First Nations culture and damaging the privately owned Bimblebox nature reserve. The decision on whether to issue a mining lease rests with the Queensland Minister for Resources, Scott Stewart with the Department of Environment and Science responsible for granting the environmental authority. (Guardian, Environmental Defenders Office)

Study finds health effects from Australian mine fire have lasted years: Researchers have found that exposure to smoke from the 45-day-long fire at the Hazelwood coal mine in Victoria resulted in increased presentations to hospital emergency departments over five years after the event. The study compared hospital presentations of 2115 residents from Morwell, the town most exposed to smoke from the mine fire, with 610 residents of Sale, which wasn’t exposed to the smoke. The study found that a ten micrograms per cubic metre increase in PM2.5 fine particle pollution lead to a ten per cent increase in respiratory presentations to the hospital over the next five years. The study also found that hospital presentations for cardiovascular diseases increased over the two-and-a-half years after the fire. (Guardian, Environmental Research)

South African NGOs call for enforcement of Eskom pollution limits: Earthlife Africa and groundWork (Friends of the Earth South Africa) have urged the South African Government’s National Environmental Consultative and Advisory Forum to reject Eskom’s request to further delay its compliance with minimum emission standards (MES) for air quality. A submission for the groups by the Center for Environmental Rights notes that between April 2021 and March 2022, Eskom exceeded air pollution licence limits 2309 times. A study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) estimated Eskom’s plants would cause an estimated 79,500 air pollution-related deaths between 2025 and their scheduled retirement if the utility’s preferred emissions control strategy is adopted. CREA estimates compliance with South Africa’s weak MES standards would avoid 34,400 premature deaths while requiring the best available technology would reduce the early death toll by 57,000. The groups argue Eskom has known about the standards for a decade and is unreasonably arguing meeting power demand should take precedence over public health. (Center for Environmental Rights, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air [Pdf])

Eskom hasn’t estimated health impact of bypassing Kusile pollution unit: Eskom has requested approval from the South African Department of Environmental Affairs to allow emissions from three 800-megawatt (MW) units to bypass the flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) unit at the Kusile coal plant. Eskom confirmed that the impact of increased sulphur dioxide emissions “is yet to be determined.” A flue gas duct serving the three units collapsed in October 2022. Eskom is seeking approval to allow the units without waiting for the duct to be rebuilt. It argues the units could return to service a year earlier than otherwise which would reduce the need for load shedding restrictions. Lauri Myllyvirta from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air estimates bypassing the FGD unit would result in an 800 per cent increase in sulphur dioxide concentrations from the three units. (News24, Engineering News)

Insider alleges utility funds used to settle Ohio MPs coal investment lawsuits: A former FirstEnergy lobbyist, Juan Cespedes, told a court hearing of an October 2018 meeting at which former Ohio Republican Speaker Larry Householder was handed a US$400,000 cheque to ensure the passage of House Bill 6 (HB6). Cespedes has pleaded guilty to playing a central role in the US$61 million scheme to win support for legislation bailing out two coal and nuclear plants in Ohio. Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges have pled not guilty to federal racketeering charges. HB6 provided subsidies for the power plants and weakened the state’s renewables targets and energy efficiency programs. A FirstEnergy executive told the court that in 2016 the utility was “bleeding cash” on its nuclear and coal plants. Cespedes testified that in August 2018 Householder told another FirstEnergy lobbyist that he needed “multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars” to help elect a team of candidates that would vote for him to be the speaker. The court was also told that in 2018, Jeff Longstreth, a political strategist, paid US$300,000 to settle lawsuits over Householder’s failed investments in an Alabama coal mine. The funds came from a FirstEnergy-funded non-profit.  After the passage in May 2019 of HB6, which was worth over US$1 billion to FirstEnergy, the utility spent a further US$35 million to defeat a campaign seeking to repeal the bill. (Cleveland.com, WCPO, Ohio Capital Journal, Ohio Capital Journal)

Australia: AGL fined A$15,000 (US$10,471) over the discharge of saline water from the 2640 MW Bayswater Power station into a nearby creek. AGL had failed to report the pollution immediately.

Australia: West Australian Government has offered Griffin Coal A$19.5 million (US$13.61 million) to keep supplying coal to the Japanese-owned Bluewaters Power station.

China: Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal has suspended construction of a 16 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) coal-to-chemicals plant in northern Xinjiang province.

Sri Lanka: After a public uproar over an Indonesian coal supply agreement, the Lanka Coal Company will buy 720,000 tonnes of Russian coal for the 900 MW Norocholai coal plant.

US: Railway operator Norfolk Southern was fined US$27,300 after 16 coal wagons derailed and fell into the Roanoke River, with over 1000 tons (907 tonnes) polluting the stream.

Spotlight on Adani’s Bangladesh power supply deal: Detailed analysis of the November 2017 power purchase agreement (PPA) between Adani Power (Jharkhand) (APL) and the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) suggests the board is set to pay higher than intended rates for power from the 1600 MW Godda power plant. The PPA allowed the power price from the plant to include provision for a range of taxes payable in India on imported equipment and the “clean energy cess” levied on coal. However, the designation in 2019 of Adani’s Godda project as part of a special economic zone by the Modi Government meant the project was exempted from import and other taxes. Journalist Ravi Nair estimates that over the agreement’s 25-year span, the avoided cost of the coal cess alone is worth about US$1 billion to Adani. APL is also guaranteed to be exempt from all income tax for the first five years and receives a discount of half its tax liability for the next five years. A Bangladesh-language news story from 2022 noted that the BPDB estimated that anomalies in the contract mean it could pay 16 per cent higher capacity charges and 45 per cent higher fuel charges for power from the Godda project compared to other imported coal plants in the country. (Adani Watch)

Adani’s mountain of debts leaves India’s state-owned bank exposed: Nikkei Asia estimated that the total debts of the Adani Group amount to 3.39 trillion rupees (US$41.1 billion), “equivalent to at least 1 per cent of the Indian economy”. A recent report by CLSA, a financial services company,  estimated that Indian banks hold about 40 per cent of the Adani Group’s debt, with the state-owned State Bank of India (SBI) responsible for about three-quarters of the total. The dramatic halving in the value of Adani Group shares over the last month resulted in SBI requiring the company to increase the number of shares pledged as collateral against a US$300 million loan for the Carmichael mine project in Australia. (Business Standard, The Wire)

Sumitomo restricts coal financing with loopholes: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has committed to ending corporate and project finance for coal mining and power plants by 2040. However, Sumitomo has not established a timetable to end support for trade finance which assists companies such as coal importers and exporters. Sumitomo’s announcement is the latest shift by significant players in the Japanese banking sector. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has ruled out financing for new coal mines but has not detailed any restrictions on existing coal mining operations. Mizuho Financial, the smallest of the three banks, has ruled out lending only to new customers that solely produce coal. The banks with the strictest policies have restricted lending to all coal producers, including metallurgical coal, power plants and coal-related infrastructure such as ports and railways. (Reuters)

US legislation to accelerate the decline of coal generation: S&P Global Market Intelligence forecasts US coal generation could decline to 10.4 per cent of electricity by 2030, with domestic thermal coal demand falling by just over one-third. Of the 58,700 MW of coal plant capacity projected to retire by 2030, Steve Piper from S & P estimates about 24,300 MW is attributable to the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act accelerating the deployment of low-carbon sources of generation. S & P estimates US coal capacity could drop below 100,000 MW by 2037, compared to 283,000 MW in 2015. Major US power utilities are also likely to announce further retirements. Duke Energy, which has about 16,000 MW of coal plant capacity, said its priority for new generation and battery storage projects is to use the transmission connections of existing plant sites. Duke Energy plans to retire its coal plants by 2035. The Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign aims to end US coal generation by 2030. (S & P Global)

Alarm at coal revival near South Africa’s special economic zone: Residents and NGOs have raised concerns with a team from the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Social and Environmental Compliance Unit that coal plants may still be planned for the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone. In September 2018, President Ramaphosa announced Chinese government support for the zone’s development, including up to 3300 MW of coal plants to support mineral smelting and other industrial projects. In late 2021 Chinese backing for the coal plants was withdrawn, with the local planning authority claiming the zone would be solar-powered. However, residents have expressed alarm that several previously shuttered coal mines owned by MC Mining are due to reopen in the next few months, with the company stating its coal will be used to power the zone. A coalition of NGOs has launched legal action requesting that the environmental authorisation for the zone be set aside. The groups argue that it is unfair that the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism is both the applicant and decision maker for the zone. The groups are requesting that decisions on the zone should be the responsibility of the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, Barbara Creecy. (Mail & Guardian, News24, Center for Environmental Rights)

Climate Policy Engagement in South Africa, Influence Map, February 2023. (Registration required)

This 40-page report reviews the climate advocacy of 22 major South African companies and industry groups and finds the Minerals Council South Africa and Thungela Resources rank worst, with Eskom and Sasol supporting some initiatives and opposing others.