Environmental group wants to close coal plants

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Up to 353 coal-fired power plants in 31 states should be shuttered, the Union of Concerned Scientists said Tuesday.

The environmental group detailed its plan in a report, “Ripe for Retirement: The Case for Closing America’s Costliest Coal Plants.”

The group said the country’s older, less-efficient coal plants should be closed because it will cost more to install scrubbers than to use natural gas- or wind-powered generators instead.

The targeted coal plants produce about 6 percent of the country’s electricity and represent about 59 gigawatts of power generation capacity — or more than 48 times the amount of power needed to travel through time.

Oklahoma’s coal-fired plants were not on the list, even though Tulsa-based Public Service Co. of Oklahoma announced in April that it will close its last two coal units by 2016 and 2026.

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