Election 2012: Implications for Coal and Natural Gas

The reelection of President Obama has already sent a message that is impacting the coal industry and it is likely that investors will be more wary of natural gas pending a review. Well ahead of more stringent regulations on
the coal industry investors are already seeing the writing on the wall and
divesting from this dirty source of energy.

As reviewed in the Washington Post, coal’s stock valuations have been directly impacted by Obama’s reelection. On the day after the election, shares of Peabody Energy fell 9.6 percent, Arch Coal plunged 12.5 percent, Consol Energy dropped 6.1 percent, and Alpha Natural Resources sank 12.2 percent.

Coal plants will be impacted by the EPA’s restrictions on soot emissions from utilities which would tighten the annual exposure to fine-particle soot from 15 micrograms per cubic meter of air to between 12 and 13 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

Within the next few months, the EPA will probably finalize the first carbon standard for new power plants, which will require any new power plant to emit no more than 1,000
pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of electricity produced. Coal plants emit an average of 1,768 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour.

Although the average natural gas plant in the US emits 800 to 850 pounds of CO₂ per
megawatt hour, the EPA is also studying the
environmental impact of hydrolic fracking, which will likely result in new federal
standards.