Shortly after one of the recent energy blogs, I was disappointed to read the uninformed posts in another venue about COAL GASSIFICATION and the widespread propaganda of BIG COAL.
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AMERICAN PROGRESS had this to say (excerpts only, read the article in its entirety, emphasis mine):
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Bad News For Big Coal
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So far, 2008 has been a rough year for the coal industry. Just 24 hours after Bush touted clean coal in his January State of the Union address, the Department of Energy pulled the plug on the ambitious FutureGen project, which aimed to build the first zero-emissions coal plant. Days later, major banks such as Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, stated their concern over coal's enormous carbon footprint with emissions caps on the horizon, a consideration that "make[s] it less likely the banks will finance other coal-fired plants." The next week, Bank of America agreed that coal plants were a bad investment. Soon after, the New York Times reported, "With opposition to coal plants rising across the country -- including a statement by three investment banks...saying they are wary of financing new ones," utilities "are turning to natural gas to meet expected growth in demand."
So far, 2008 has been a rough year for the coal industry. Just 24 hours after Bush touted clean coal in his January State of the Union address, the Department of Energy pulled the plug on the ambitious FutureGen project, which aimed to build the first zero-emissions coal plant. Days later, major banks such as Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, stated their concern over coal's enormous carbon footprint with emissions caps on the horizon, a consideration that "make[s] it less likely the banks will finance other coal-fired plants." The next week, Bank of America agreed that coal plants were a bad investment. Soon after, the New York Times reported, "With opposition to coal plants rising across the country -- including a statement by three investment banks...saying they are wary of financing new ones," utilities "are turning to natural gas to meet expected growth in demand."
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In response, Sunflower has tried to link its dirty coal with clean energy, in a TV spot promoting the "Holcomb expansion." The ad -- which never mentions the word "coal" -- insists the plant "will be one of the cleanest, most efficient power plants of its kind." In fact, even with the best available technology, the plant will emit massive amounts of mercury, sulfur dioxide, and ash wastes. Moreover, there are no standards to limit the amount of carbon dioxide pollution emitted, and the new plants are estimated to emit at least 11 millions tons of greenhouse gases ever year.
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A search of the UCS site for information regarding coal produced this extensive list: Union of Concerned Scientists
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Among the most egregious environmental destruction caused by COAL, is MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL.
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American Progress offered the following:
Judge Robert Chambers of a federal court in West Virginia curbed the government's allowance of the controversial practice of mountaintop removal, a form of strip mining in which coal companies use explosives to essentially remove entire mountains, and "the resulting millions of tons of waste rock, dirt, and vegetation are then dumped into surrounding valleys." (See a satellite picture of mountaintop removal here). Chambers ruled that the U.S Army Corps of Engineers "violated the [Clean Water Act] by issuing mountaintop removal mining permits that allowed headwater streams to be permanently buried." In a "victory for environmentalists," Chambers ruled that "more thorough reviews of the mines’ potential impacts must be done before permits can be approved."
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A search of GRIST for MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL produced: LINK
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A search of the Sierra Club site produced 1210 articles: LINK
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A google search of MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL produced +43,000 entries, including the following:
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Appalachia Is Paying Price for White House Rule Change WP
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Of the President's budget submission:
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Bush's budget request Monday cut funding for renewable energy, but increased spending for science.
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"Despite the president's more aggressive statements on fighting climate change, his budget request would reduce funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy – such as wind, solar, etc. The president gets much of that reduction by slashing funding – from $280 million to $60 million – for low-income households to 'weatherize' their homes with new windows, better insulation, and other efforts."
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Said Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, in a press release:
"The president called for continued US leadership in developing energy-efficiency technologies and in using energy efficiency to help reduce greenhouse gases, Yet [Bush's] budget request confounds the president's own rhetoric by reducing funding for key energy-efficiency and research and development programs...."
"The president called for continued US leadership in developing energy-efficiency technologies and in using energy efficiency to help reduce greenhouse gases, Yet [Bush's] budget request confounds the president's own rhetoric by reducing funding for key energy-efficiency and research and development programs...."
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Energy technology is rapidly changing.
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Those ideas you had 20 years ago or last year are long outdated.
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A tidal wave power generation plant constructed off the coast of Australia for power and desalination was estimated to produce power for 3 cents/kw.
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CPV is estimated to produce power for 3 cents/kw.
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COAL produces ACID RAIN and MERCURY and ASH that destroys forests, sterilizes the soils, infiltrates the water supply, causes respiratory problems and causes known health risks including neurological damage.
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COAL IS DIRTY. COAL IS ENVIRONMENTALLY EXPENSIVE IN ITS DESTRUCTION.
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WE CAN'T AFFORD COAL AT ANY PRICE!
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Before any of us promote ANY source of energy, please research the facts.
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The first step in any viable energy policy is to reduce personal energy consumption.
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That means: EACH OF US NEEDS TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONSERVATION.
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Take a few minutes and watch:
A Film by Rebecca MacNeice
Larry Gibson's family roots on West Virginia's Kayford Mountain go back to the 1700s. In 1906, after being swindled by a land company representing coal mine owners (as happened to countless other mountaineers), his family found itself with only 50 acres of its original 500. Now, Gibson hangs onto his mountain and observes family traditions, despite the disappearance of landscape all around him - the result of total environmental destruction caused by mountaintop removal mining. Keeping to family and Appalachian traditions of annually visiting the family graveyard, Gibson this year took other locals, environmental activists and journalists along with him.
Larry Gibson's family roots on West Virginia's Kayford Mountain go back to the 1700s. In 1906, after being swindled by a land company representing coal mine owners (as happened to countless other mountaineers), his family found itself with only 50 acres of its original 500. Now, Gibson hangs onto his mountain and observes family traditions, despite the disappearance of landscape all around him - the result of total environmental destruction caused by mountaintop removal mining. Keeping to family and Appalachian traditions of annually visiting the family graveyard, Gibson this year took other locals, environmental activists and journalists along with him.
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A Film by Rebecca MacNeice
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Pennies of Promise is a newly formed citizen action group in West Virginia. On Tuesday, May 30, the group launched a national campaign at the foot of the State Capitol to raise awareness for the Marsh Fork Elementary School in Sundial, West Virginia. The school children are dealing with a host of medical issues they believe are connected to the recently constructed coal silo, which sits 150 feet away from the school, and the toxic slurry pond, which is approximately 300 feet away from the school. Retired school teacher Mary Porter brought $400 dollars in pennies collected from school children in Harlem as a donation to the state of West Virginia to aid in the construction of a school in another location.
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Pennies of Promise is a newly formed citizen action group in West Virginia. On Tuesday, May 30, the group launched a national campaign at the foot of the State Capitol to raise awareness for the Marsh Fork Elementary School in Sundial, West Virginia. The school children are dealing with a host of medical issues they believe are connected to the recently constructed coal silo, which sits 150 feet away from the school, and the toxic slurry pond, which is approximately 300 feet away from the school. Retired school teacher Mary Porter brought $400 dollars in pennies collected from school children in Harlem as a donation to the state of West Virginia to aid in the construction of a school in another location.
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A Film by Rebecca MacNeice
As the destruction of America's Appalachian Range accelerates in the mad rush for cheap energy, activist Doris "Granny D" Haddock and former congressman Ken Hechler act as our tour guides as we fly over regions of mind-boggling devastation. Truthout filmmaker Rebecca MacNeice is aboard a SouthWings flight. SouthWings provides fly-overs of mountain top removal sites to promote conservation through aviation.
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