DOE STUDY MAY BOLSTER ACTIVISTS' BID TO ASSESS CUMULATIVE CO2 IMPACTS

A Department of Energy (DOE) study on the environmental impacts of a proposed coal-to-fuel (CTF) plant could bolster environmentalists' efforts to require that federal agencies assess the cumulative impacts of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions stemming from federal actions, sources say. But DOE has set such a high threshold for mitigating CO2 impacts -- requiring that a project's contribution be substantial in comparison to global CO2 emissions -- that even if the department agrees to assess cumulative impacts, it would likely...