If you read the article above, you’ll get the irony of this item from the Detroit Free Press.

Detroit Free Press:

Efforts to battle global warming and climate change by limiting carbon dioxide emissions are likely to produce a massive building boom at Michigan power plants in years to come, potentially creating thousands of jobs.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is refining its proposed clean air regulations that would require states to dramatically lower output of greenhouse gases over the next 15 years. For Michigan, the targeted reduction is 31% over 2012 levels.

Gerard Anderson, CEO of DTE Energy, estimated the emissions regulation will lead to the retirement of half or more of the coal-fired generation in Michigan. That capacity will be replaced with natural gas and wind power, both requiring big new investment in facilities. For the state as a whole across several power companies, including DTE, Anderson estimated $15 billion would be spent on new facilities.

“I would say that the electric sector is headed for the biggest transformation it’s seen in 40 years, starting soon,” Anderson told the Free Press. “This is the most important and most sweeping environmental regulation ever issued in our sector by a pretty wide margin, and perhaps the most important environmental regulation ever issued.”

The rebuilding of Michigan’s power generating capacity could become the most visible part of the state’s energy economy in the next 10 to 20 years. Industry experts agree that growing the cluster of industries that comprise the energy sector depends on a mix of public policy, entrepreneurial energy and general economic direction.