I’ve mentioned a few times that affordable energy is vital to rebuilding our economy.
What do I mean by that?
Well, it’s a fact that American businesses need affordable electricity.
According to Economy.com’s 2008 North American Business Cost Review, energy costs are second only to labor costs in determining the viability of a business in a given location.
So that’s why you see states like Kentucky with traditional low-cost energy doing very well at attracting manufacturing jobs. Georgia doesn’t have many coal industry jobs, but coal provides over 60 percent of the state’s electricity. As a result of the low electricity prices that coal provides, Georgia sees a significant economic impact. Other states like California and several in New England that have among the highest costs of electricity have lost industry.
How expensive is electricity in your state? Take a look at this map.
Remember, coal is a third of the price of other fuels, so it’s likely that if coal provides the majority of electricity in your state… you’ll have cheaper power and be in a better position to attract businesses.
The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is committed to the idea that America can have the affordable, reliable electricity we need, with the clean environment we want. ACCCE’s Behind the Plug blog is the place for up-to-date news and analysis on clean coal technology developments and energy policy progress.
Mine baby Mine! Mine here Mine now! Global warming is the biggest hoax ever. It’s a joke.
I am SO tired of Obama telling us to “tune up our cars,” as if THAT will actually put GAS in the TANK and get us to work! Bush dropped the ball on energy, and Obama seems to be interested only in double-speak. I despair of using our BRAINS to use the God-given resources we already have.
there is allready clean coal tec coal gasification plant gov built plant in 1970,s great plains coal gasification plant in Beulah,North Dakota Tampa Fla polk power Mulberry Wabash River plant Terre Haute Indiana no one is looking very hard for clean coal tec
If anything, we need to move AWAY from coal. Despite what Roland says, global warming is a scientifically accepted fact, and coal is exacerbating the problem, especially considering there isn’t anything even close to “clean” coal yet. Renewable energy has to be the next step, and we should start taking it now.
Obama said before the election that he was going to put coal companies out of business, but uninformed Union Members still voted for him; so enjoy unemployment.
Global warming a hoax? Close, but not exactly. The real hoax(sters) are the people who claim to know its origins and solutions.
Roland:
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. As for ACCCE, we’ll will back any legislation that meets our 12 legislative climate change principles, which you can find here.
Liz:
I should point out that coal is one of our domestic resources—in fact, it’s the most abundant source we have for supplying baseload power. There are many, many ‘brains’ around the country hard at work to research and deploy safe carbon capture and storage that can help us meet our increasing energy demand, create jobs and further reduce emissions.
Ernest:
You’re right to point out that, since the 1970s, clean coal technology has reduced emissions by 77 percent (in terms of emissions currently regulated under existing Clean Air Act programs per unit of energy produced). There are clean coal technology projects underway all across the country—you can view them here.
Zach:
ACCCE supports renewable energy development—we know we’re going to need all of our domestic energy sources to meet our growing energy demand and decrease our reliance on foreign energy sources. However, right now, renewables like wind and solar are no replacement for the baseload power of coal, which provides families, businesses and cities with electricity 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Dave:
We’ve written about Obama’s stance on coal quite a few times. While the president says he has “an aggressive goal” of reducing carbon emissions, he also believes that we can use clean coal technologies to meet that goal. There’s no greater proof than his inclusion of clean coal technology funding in the latest stimulus package, to the tune of $3.4 billion.
Think Tank: Please don’t laugh. There is a problem with people using too much toilet paper. My solution; Re-educate the planet on wiping their rears. Here is the important part. Stop flushing and start collecting. Collect all toilet paper and send to the power plant instead of coal. Solution? I believe less energy harvesting toilet paper than coal. What do you think? Thanks. Lucky Chucky
Why do these political analysts keep saying the Obama Admin. `Inherited` the current economic crisis. He begged for it to get votes. Sounds like he’s setting up an early defence for when thing’s get worse. The “Don’t blame me” defence is getting old.
When will SOMEBODY really start informing the people about the real culprits in this financial breakdown. Some legislators and some regulators pressed congress to bring the banks under under control. I heard recordings of a congressional hearing where it was pointed out that the banks, including Fanny and Freddy were giving “sub prim” loans to the point that the system was in jeopardy. Nancy Pelosi stated these banks were doing just what we want them to do, and said perhaps its the regulators that should be investigated. The banks in many cases were acting under political pressure and threat of lawsuits if they did not give loans to people who obviously could not afford them. Their only hope was to bundle them with other paper and hope the system could absorb the risk. It almost looks like the whole breakdown was orchestrated for political gain.
Coal is good for now, but we should immediately launch a crash program to build nuclear power plants. Nuclear power is intrinsically cheaper because the power is millions of times more dense (1 pound fissionable material = 3 million pounds of coal, if fully fissioned, which is very feasible with breeder reactors and spent fuel reprocessing). Precisely because the power density is so great, the mass of waste produced is small. 1 pound of fissile material produces only 1 pound minus E=mc2 of fission products. And that “waste” includes many isotopes with special applications in medicine and industry.
Granted, the present political climate, which gives Superdomes to psychotic eco-terrorists, saboteurs, and pro-world-government arms-control freaks who hate nuclear power, may make nuclear power more expensive than coal at present, but a little courage in our convictions and moral principles could overturn that. Nuclear power produces zero air pollution, and it can power submarines, ocean liners and spacecraft, consuming no oxygen, and adding millions of times less mass to the vehicle!
What the “nuclear waste” problem boils down to is: The world government will let you use a sharp knife, but won’t allow you to sharpen it. Instead, you must store your dull knife in your kitchen and buy a new one. The world government won’t allow knife sharpening because that would lead to sharp knife proliferation!
all of congress should resign becaus of their incompatence
I,am so disgusted with this White House already!Here s a thought i havent heard yet?Why didnt anybody read the stimulus?All thats right nancy had to go on vacation to europe on our dime!What happen to 48 hours on the internet to give the public time to read it ourselves.We would of caught it.Oh yeah nancy had to go on vacation!That vacation will probably cost taxpayers 200 million $ I know europe vactions were expensive but.We got into this mess because people didnt read ther morgage contacts!Who in hell doesn,t a read a contract before they sign it only stupid people
The gov’t doesn’t need to be spending the time in congress about passing the buck on the agi money when they didn’t even read the bill before they passed it to begin with–all the gov’t wants is to spend money instead of helping people out–the little man is the one who is being hurt the most.
Zach: I live in a state and an area that has 3 coal power plants and you should come and enjoy our strikingly blue skies and fresh air. Linda
Gentlemen and Ladies-
Please – It takes a lot of people to fall in a hole — and it takes alot of people/effort to climb out of a hole — We, The United States of America are one people, We are free!
Actually, we’re not fallin’ in a hole, we’e just been challenged down and up! Soo– We get up, dust our knees off and shake the coal dust/sand out off our pants. Thank you my friends, my neighbors. family, and to this comment panel for being optimistic and positive!!
I know if a republican president was spending our money with this carelessness the cry from Democrats would be impeachment. Where is the main stream media and why is there no talk of impeachment. This must be done before we have no democracy left.
Thank you,
Gary Las Vegas
I know everyone is concerned about our coal being clean, But what confuses me is that coal is not the only thing that could be causeing global warming. We make so many cemicals that destroy our earth, that are human made and much more dangerous than coal. Hair spray, cleaning supplies, all the waste in the land fields. What alot of peaple doesnt understand is that when you guys decided to clean our coal, and getting ready to tax our coal companys to where they will not be able to run, provide jobs in w.v. alone will go under. More than half of the w.v. peaple work in coal mines. That is most of where our incomes come from. So I hope that the american peaple are ready to support alot of families with there taxes, when our president decides to take our families income away. My husband is a extremley hard working underground coal miner and I have the most respect for a person that will break there back for there families to keep them off of welfare. And the coal buisness in W.V. is the only thing that is keeping us for going under. If the president wants to fix something maybe he could try the welfare system…
Use all the coal you want, quit blowing up our mountains to get it !
http://www.wisecountyissues.com
Politics is a religion. My religion says that I make a choice and that my neighbor may offer interpretation of his choice. Faith is about my choices that guide.
Climate change is the issue at hand. A government body being paid, to serve, has offered only their choice interpretation. All other choices are not considered.
There is clean coal technology. As with the original commercial application to heavier than air – airplane, was so expensive that only the central government (military) sought and could afford this new found tool. Eventually the private developed tool box become full of innovation that allowed a dirt farmer in Wyoming to build and fly an airplane.
Coal power if allowed will be as clean an any energy. Solar panels are made up of exotic compounds not available to a dirt farmer. Nuke power is clean, and almost 100% recyclable if allowed to develop in its tool box.
There is no consensus to what is driving climate. Prudent choices must include energy of any source to protect the individual from either very cold or very hot environment.
Energy availability is a key “engine of growth” for a healthy economy.The kind of energy we use is a quality of life issue.Our first priority must be to assure that a broad, adequate supply is always available at lowest cost. Quality of life issues are extremely important but if we put them first then our economy will crumble while we try and find perfect energy solutions. Many of which are still in the feasibility study age and are not presently technically viable
fossil fuels are not needed anymore.Coal enery is outdated and archaic. renewable energy is here and we need to start utilizing this energy! its not that hard to wrap your head around. The new generations will see this… Kids that are 4 and 5 years old know more about renewable energy and understand the importance more then those in power. They are the future. educate the youth to change the future…
Jamie:
I beg to differ. Coal provides nearly half of the country’s electricity. Currently, renewables like wind, solar and biomass account for a mere 2.5 percent of our electricity production.
We agree that it’s going to take all of our domestic resources to meet our changing energy demands. But the figures paint a clear picture, and it’s that coal remains a vital part of our energy mix.
Watched some of the Presidents townhall via the internet and it sounds like he is runing for the office he now holds, not answering the questions. He should try to fix problems before trying to turn this independant country into a socialist country.
Meagan, You mentioned that president Obama is interested in clean coal technology and I think we just got his answer from the EPA yesterday when they shut down many of the coal mines. Sad to say, I don’t believe he really is willing to consider anything that has to do with coal.
The environmentalist consider the term “clean coal” a joke. You and I know that it isn’t. But once they have found a “villian” (the coal plants), they won’t back off until its been killed.
The worst of it, is that the American family will be paying twice as much for electricity in four years with supposedly “greener” technology (that really isn’t). That’s revenue that families could use for their children’s shoes and school supplies.
After you, they’ll be going for the natural gas and petroleum industry.
We wanted change … and that’s all the American people will still have in the wallet when the far left eliminates our options for renewable energy.
True “Clean Coal” is a myth!!!
We need to realize that this is nothing more than a political ploy to get a very liberal agenda passed into law. We need to stop some of the atrocities that are being used in the mining process but to give up on one of our natural resources is totally STUPID. We need to start letting our citizens use their knowledge and intuition to find answers to our fuel and power needs. This country was built upon a free market system, not one of government regulations to control the market. We need to start thinking more about our water needs for the coming generations. Government involvement in our free market system is what is causing the reduction in new technology and business growth.
Global warming has occurred in the past, and so has global cooling. The cycles seem to follow the amount of life on the planet. The two most potent green house gasses are CO2 and methane, both are byproducts of breathing and flatus respectively.
How does Al Gore and company plan to deal with the global reality of 6 billion and counting humans and the animals / plants they eat? Yes, plants create methane as they decay, particularly after we eat them.
Clean + Coal
does NOT compute
what is the diffrence between clean and dirty coal
I work for a transportation business that transports coal from the mines to the utilities. Coal provides 67% of the nations electricity. The coal we haul is low sulfur coal which produces less emissions. If the coal industry is shut down, do you all know how many jobs will go with it? Thousands would be out of work. And for all you that believe in Global Warming, a vocano emits more carbon dioxide in one eruption than the US industries, cars etc put out and the earth takes care of it. Are they going to shut down volcanos too. This is how ridiculus it sounds. Global Warming is a way for certain individuals to make money off the backs of the rest of us. We have in our country a great resource in coal and we should use it and become independent from other countries that want to destroy us.
Mine for coal, and drill for oil. Can’t the government get it through their thisk skulls that we can sustain our nation with oil, natural gas, and coal from our own country. What a mess the GREEN people are. I am so frustrated with Global Warming and all that stuff.
There is no such thing as clean coal. It doesn’t exist. There is no such thing as carbon sequestration. It doesn’t exist. It is still in research stages in colleges and universities. It will take at least a decade until it can be implemented. Off-shore wind is here now. The wind in the ocean ALWAYS blows and it is inexpensive to install. The technology is here now. Let’s install it now and forget about coal!
Give all of the people who have coal related jobs to work on something clean and healthy for the earth.
PEACE.
We need coal energy, oil energy and nuclear energy. Keep those dudes working!
When discussing the unsustainability of the national debt please make sure to add the 40+ trillion of unfunded liabilities, mostly related to Social Security and medicaid/medicare, to the 10+ actual accumulated debt…very few discussions do so.
Montana is supported by coal. Because of the environmentalists the Great Falls area power plant was shut down. Our power bill has tripled since we moved here in 1983.
Airplanes put more carbon directly into the atmosphere than all the coal burning power plants in this country ! No one ever mentions airplanes when they talk about “Green.” National Geographic (March 2009) states the role airplanes play in polluting the atmosphere.Maybe Obama, Pelosi, and the rest of the ELITE should start taking the train. That would be “Green.”
Clean coal is an oxymoron. long on the moron.
There…is…no…such…thing!
When we start talking around the truth, then we can have a relevant conversation about energy and not profits.
There is no such thing as ” clean coal”, the mining co.s are raping our planet and poisioning our air, destroying our mountains and killing our water.
ALL COAL IS DIRTY, ALL.
CO2 is NOT the issue.
CO2 is misdirection, obfuscation, the real issue is Mercury, Cadmium, Molybednium, etc i.e. hard core toxic waste, the CO2 is just a way to control YOU, while no attention is paid to these hazardous heavy metals that do real damage that COAL is LOADED with. Be you own expert, do not trust these wolves is sheep’s clothing.
Read more about Geothermal and Algae Diesel energy here:
http://RoboEco.com/Obama
Remember, energy that is free, i.e. GeoThermal and easy to do requiring no middleman, i.e. Algae Diesel, are not attractive to the current crew of power dealers for they cannot make money off of you with them.
Cheers, be well !!!
There is nothing wrong with researching clean coal technology. But we should do it as an alternative to foreign oil not because of the global warming farce. Cap and trade will do nothing but raise everyones electric bills.A bigger tax break for companies that research clean coal is a better alternative. Government run research will do nothing but eat up millions of dollars in study that will probaly so laden with politics that it will lucky to provide even a prototype of clean coal within the next 20 years. By then we’ll be broke.
They should raise taxes on the neon, digital signs and lights of the vegas gambling and all pleasure parks that use excess energy to run 24/7 with all the extravagant lights. Use more wind and solar, nuclear energy.
I think Obama is a hypocrit!
How can he preach to the masses about clean air/green energy, etc., etc., while is smokes cigarettes? Gimme a break!
Check out T. Boone Pickens Plan for energy, very smart! An Oil Man who knows what he is taking about and who doesn’t listen to nutballs on talk radio!
http://www.pickensplan.com/
Coal, nuclear, and hydroelectric energy are the sources we should be using to provide centralized electrical power in the short and medium time frame. In the long term, nuclear fussion would be the way to go supplemented by individual solar capabilities. If we need to be worried about CO2 emissions, the processes of photosynthesis does wonders in coverting CO2 to O2 and sugar. Maybe we should be looking into how to accelerate photosynthesis rather then building acres of windmills or solar panals?
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CLEAN COAL!!!
in wyoming coal, gas, and oil is our biggest industrys. when obama shuts us down what industry will the govermeent come up with so the people of this state can support our selves. the goverment has saved the car industry. the goverment has saved the banking industry. i want to know what the goverment will do to save the hundreds of thousands of jobs lost in the oil, gas, and coal industry.
Nuclear is never a wise decision. It failed in the past and creates dangerous possibilities, as well as disaster for waste regulation. It is also an economic disaster waiting to happen since it is a lot more expensive to utilize than coal. Three strikes!
Please still have GOT to quit falling into that global warming trap. Read the report by REAL scientists from the Oregon Institute of Science. Over 31,000 scientists agree on this one! (Not politicians!) Although it is important that we take care of our planet, we also need to understand that coal is a natural resource AND economical.
Interesting. I saw this on Bloomberg on YouTube
clean coal is the greatest oxymoron I’ve heard in awhile.
Give me a break, our resources and intellect are not so dull that we can not come up with and impalement an alternative energy source. We have the knowledge and the have the power to, but it looks like Barrack is more interested in taking that power away. Thanks for the environmental concern Prez.
My favorite question that I ask the general public is: How much CO2 do you think is in the atmosphere?
Most people think the answer must be at least 30%. In fact CO2 is only a very small trace component of air (less than 0.04%), which is so small that it can in no way have a notable affect on climate.
CO2 in the air is essential for plant growth and life on earth. CO2 is not “dirty”. In fact plant growth would be greater with more CO2 in the air.
Clean coal, hmmm. All the EPA standards are for what reason? Our government allows with the purchase of priveleges to burn plastic, rubber and it is in the name of recycling. Coal is a earth product, actually a remnant of green. Our President touts taxes to pay for education, science. Perhaps our President should read a 7th grade science book from 1972.
Global thoughts and global economy only came into the Network news when Al Gore decided that after losing an election he was bound and determined to be World leader. Egoism is not Green other than with envy.
I think people have gone over board on green. I think jobs are more important than all the reason they come up with for not using coal. Fifty year ago the coal industry needed cleaning up. Lets use more coal for power plants and anything else it can be use for in the place of oil
The steel made our country what is is today. Our car industry has bbeen a very good asset for the citizens of the U.S. COAL is what made all 3 of the above possible and our citizens makes a hefty paycheck for all the coal mined. If carbon is the only negative against coal. Thats fantastic. Most other industries emit very danger chemicals in the atmosphere.
There is no such thing as clean coal! Even if you could capture not just the carbon but all the other deadly emissions, the mining of coal in this country destroys what little is left of our natural environment. Cheap isn’t always better, you get what you pay for! In the long run renewable energy is cheapest, in the short run, energy efficiency is the cheapest! Why through our dollars, future and environment down the toilet to make oil fat cats and investors in Nuclear rich at our expense? Work for personal energy independence!
What a joke. “Clean Coal” has never, -never-, actually been proven to generate less long term pollution and negative effects then so-called “not clean coal”.
This entire site is nothing but a very thinly-disguised front for the non-mainstream right wing (there ARE mainstream people on the right..) interests. Mainly, you guessed it, the coal industry who is scared to jeebus and back of wider adoption of nuclear power and scared to change their business model to start adopting renewable energy sources instead of the old status quo business as usual.
NEWS FLASH: Your failed business model and 50-years-outdated business plan are NOT MY PROBLEM. Global climate change, polluted drinking water, and widespread land nonhabitation ARE MY PROBLEMS!
I strongly suspect this comment will be “moderated” since this is such a two-sided discussion, based on the other comments…
Didn’t BO state he was going to tax coal out of business (or words to that effect) during he Media Campaign??
Is this another reversal?
Better check the Teleprompter
There is no such thing as clean coal! There is CLEANER burning coal. When you burn something like coal, you get exhaust. That exhaust is pumped into the enviroment, whether you see it or not. I’m not against coal, but lets call it like we see it. Build more nukes.
this site is obviously a last stab by coal companies to stay in business. Coal is unnecessary with wind solar and nuclear of the future. sorry. appreciate all the blue and green ads though for “clean coal”
The greener technology they speak of i$ the green the government will tax out of your bank account and the utility companie$ will increase your rates to under the crusade of ending nonexistent global warming. Ye$, it will be real green for them. Did any of you look out this winter… it was one of the coldest in years around here! It’s interesting that many scientists too are quickly forsaking this global warming nonsense… simply because it is just that… nonsense! That inconvenient liar Gore even changed the name to “climate change” because there is no evidence of warming. Climate cycles are the normal changes the earth goes through… just like seasons. They’re never identical year to year! Some are warmer, others are dryer, while others are colder, and yes, the polar ice caps melt down from time to time, then regrow. Part the wool and observe for yourselves! The shaft is headed your way!
Man is not causing global warming, nor is there any appreciable or relevant warming within our control. According to an earlier Natl Geographic: 10,000 years ago it was so warm there were hippos swimming in the Thames River by today’s city of London. Did man cause that? In the 1300′s Chaucer’s parents were vintners because it was so warm in England (warmer than now!) Did man’s carbon dioxide cause that? No, of course not.
Yet, the gov’t wants to set cap & trade regulation to suppress businesses that emit it. CAP & TRADE WILL DECAPITATE CAPITALISM! It gives money to government to increase its CONTROL over the populace. CONTROLERS masquerade as HELPERS. IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO HELP OURSELVES, NOT DEPEND ON SOMEONES ELSE’S IDEA OF WHAT IS GOOD FOR US.
I am an environmentalist. Please Spare me the change…
First of all I do believe that Carbon emissions are causing Air pollution, but its not us doing the damage, We are the tip of the iceberg. China, India, Russia & others are contributing to more pollution.
Also am in favour of Oil drilling. I am tired of our politicians, especailly the dems crying all the time and spending my money.
O
Clean coal is an oxymoron. The ability to burn coal without effluent is ridiculous.
They talk about “scrubbers” and putting the CO2 back into the ground. At what point does burning coal and disposing of the residual take more energy than what is produced. We may be past the point of diminishing returns.
http://www.ohiochamber.com/governmental/pdfs/William%20Mook_021308.pdf
This is the testimony I gave last year to the Ohio House of Representatives.
I grew up near Beulah, ND and that technology is far from clean. A yellow plume extends from the coal gasification plant outside of Beulah all the way to Hazen (10 miles away).
It’s interesting that some citizens are so attached to coal. It’s done a great job providing jobs but at what cost? Aren’t we the most inventive, industrious nation on the planet? Can’t we do better? If we could provide the good paying jobs in other ways, that didn’t pollute, didn’t require blowing off the tops of mountains, why wouldn’t we do that? Why wouldn’t you want that for your children? I know why the coal companies would be against it and might start a big marketing campaign about “Clean Coal.”
Also, if you’re slinging around words like “socialism,” you had better look it up, know what it means, and then actually read the bills that you fear. And then? Make up your own mind as to the impact of the law, rather than snatching phrases from the news. If you’re not doing that, all the freedom that you’re crying about means absolutely nothing. You won’t ever be free.
People have become so comfortable with all of their luxuries and comforts, that they refuse to believe that their lifestyle could ever have a catastrophic effect on their children and grandchildren.
Clean Coal?….I don’t think so. That carbon has to go somewhere, so somebody had the idea that…”Oh let’s just pump it into these large empty caverns that used to contain oil, and store it there for eons. Can we guarantee that none of that carbon will leak out into the atmosphere over the years?”…”Ahh who cares…we can call it Clean Coal, and it will make us sound green while we keep on lining our pockets. We’ll be dead before our children and grandchildren have to deal with it anyway.”
Fact: The most abundant resource in the universe is Hydrogen. When you combine hydrogen and oxygen, you get water, not greenhouse gases…Hmm…now thats something to ponder.
How much does hydrogen cost?…Nearly free once you have what you need to harness it.
You can find more information at: http://www.switch2hydrogen.com/
In reply to Linda: Coal plants in the central states have high smoke stacks to keep the pollution from affecting the local population on the ground. The problem is that because of westerly prevailing winds all of those pollutants end up on the east coast in the form of acid rain, higher ozone levels and particulate matter pollution. So Linda…your cheap energy, strikingly blue skies and fresh air are enjoyed at the expense of Americans to the east of you.
when utility bill for your home is more than your house payment then you will beg for safe drilling off shore won”t care were the nuk plant is or were we dig for coal or even were the wind power is located .some common sence goes a long way
THIS PLANET WAS HERE LONG BEFORE US AND WILL BE HERE LONG AFTER US. WE MAY BE SPEEDING UP THE PROCESS BY A SMALL AMOUNT BUT THE EARTH HAS CHANGED MANY TIMES OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS AND WILL CONTINUE TO CHANGE DESPITE HUMANS. AS FOR COAL, MY HUSBAND IS A COAL MINER. I DON’T WANT TO SEE MY MOUNTAINS BLOWN AWAY BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE ON WELFARE EITHER. ALL THE TREE HUGGERS KEEP COMPLAINING ABOUNT COAL, LETS SEE HOW MUCH THEY COMPLAIN WHEN WE LOOSE OUR JOBS AND THEIR TAX DOLLARS GO INTO OUR WELFARE CHECKS!
You’ll are real idiots. Burning coal and destroying the PLANET
One this is true, that we all must take care of our home, “Mother Earth”. Regardless where one stand on the issue of Global Warming.No matter where we live it’s important that we are good stewarts of what God has given us. We must have a clean enviroment. Everything should be done in moderation. We live the life of excess like there is no tomorrow. We drive to much, don’t walk or ride a bike, use public transportation where it available. We eat, drink and smoke to much which is bad for our health. If we just turned out one unneeded light, don’t drive every where all the time, don’t eat so much and do a little exercise our life will change for the better. Use our collective common sense and stop the blame game. We must educate our country and the rest of the emerging world who now what more and more, China, India. We must do this as a United people not just by words or slogans, but by our actions. We do not need the sky is falling type reaction but good common sense plan. Our nation has to many irons in the fire right now, we can’t fix all the problems of the past right now, and our elected folks in Washington DC better wake up. We can do everything at once. One can only eat a elephant a bite at a time. Wake up and let’s do first things first. Our Nation is good but were not that good. Make a good plan and follow it. Come on folks we can do anything, We are American.
When will those in power realize that the energy we have been blessed with in these united states was put here by God. . Just as the animals were put here for the good of mankind the energy resources were put here for the same reason.Use of all the resources should be used. We have the means to use them wisely and safely. Start with those we know are there and strive to improve and expand to those we think can be found and utilized.Drill now and every barrel we draw out reduces our dependence on foreign sources. if not we will be buying our own oil from China as she drill the oil off our shores and sell it back to us and use our money to purchase oil from the Middle East.
Is this the website that unleashes the awesome power of the word “clean”?
Coal is cheap until you consider the cost of destroying mountains, acidifying rain, and drastically altering the environment.
“Chairman, President and CEO Questar Corporation Keith O. Rattie said on April 2, 2009
Why did my generation fail to develop wind and solar? Because our energy choices are ruthlessly ruled, not by political judgments, but by the immutable laws of thermodynamics. In engineer-speak, turning diffused sources of energy such as photons in sunlight or the kinetic energy in wind requires massive investment to concentrate that energy into a form that’s usable on any meaningful scale. ”
Solar BTU study proposal.
http://home.comcast.net/~bpayne37/pnmelectric/donbrown/algodones.htm#solararray
What coal did for Nat it could do for the rest of us. We too could become sovereigns of our own destiny. The Chief is brave and I would like to be able to say that for more of you than I see currently. You have a rare opportunity. Get with Chief on this one. As time goes on we could then move on to even more fascinating things. Chief knows something. I long for the time that many more of you do. The treasure trove awaits us. I can dig it. #8^)) ; Please get with it. Don’t any of you remember that, yes we can.
It’s horrifying how many people endorse this so called “clean” coal. What is clean in blowing apart mountains, showering neighboring towns with toxic sediment, destroying water supplies, trust and communities? Whether new techniques can guide limited amounts carbon during the process or not, extraction of carbon means it’s out of the ground – there is no ‘away’. Why continue to hold onto these socially, politically and environmentally destructive processes when there are alternatives? For money? Are we that cool and unfeeling to guide our decision making, decisions that will effect our descendants, with such a closed minded consideration. To selfishly thrive off of cheap fuel at the expense of workers with limited health care, destroyed ecosystems, and support social inequality through the profits of untouchable corporations. I hope that the world considers more than themselves in their decision making. I wish that externalities could not exist.
Civiletti: The fact is, Congress coined the term clean coal technology long before our organization existed. Way back then – the mid-1980s – Congress used the phrase in reference to technologies that reduced sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.
Only recently have people begun to claim that CCT refers solely to the capture and storage of carbon dioxide, disregarding all of the progress on acid rain and other issues, which have made today’s coal-based generating plants 77 percent cleaner on the basis of regulated emissions per unit of energy produced.
If US emmissions are less than 4% of the planetary total, why are we interested in suppression? It’s useless. Burn the gas, burn the Coal, build reactors, make the lights shine.
I believe President Obama is 100% correct when he states that the cost of energy is the epicenter of the cost of living in certain areas. Coal is a very attainable and abundant in some areas. Currently our country is in economic turmoil. Yes I know that coal is a huge factor of Co2 emmisions to the atmosphere at the moment, but the impacts of using it until we can stabilize our economy while searching for alternative means of energy greatly outweigh the impacts of a couple of more years of global warming. Yes I am aware of Al Gores documentary, but the real scientific truth is that the models they were dealing with were 100-2000 year projections of the impact of global warming IF WE CONTINUE TO INCREASE GREEN HOUSE GAS OUTPUTS at the current GROWTH RATE at the time of the study. Global impacts of current green house gas emissions for another 4 years will have little to no impact on the current climate conditions, and it will help ease the current economic crisis while still researching new methods of energy. When you think of global warming you must think of time in a geological sense not time as in a human life time.
Nuclear energy has been the solution to our energy demand for years. It’s sickening how misled the public is about nuclear energy. Even the founder of GreenPeace (the environmental org) says nuclear is the way to go.
I for one of many millions am sick, literally, of the filthy gray air that fequently blankets the upper Midwest and Great Lakes areas. It’s time that the cost of coal combustion-generated electricity incudes the costs of all the health damage it creates.
There is no way to make coal combustion “clean.” Our nation needs to greatly expand PV-solar and wind electric generation, increase investments in energy conservation, and rapidly decrease our use of coal.
There will be no net loss of jobs, and displaced miners can move into much more rewarding jobs in the clean, renewable energy industry.
Clean coal is an oxymoron, there is no such thing!
There are so many comments about how coal is clean. Oil companies are so much more adept to the environment than mining for coal it isn’t funny. The green footprint so to speak is much larger with mining coal, but herein lies the problem. Just because Obama wants to mine for coal the oil and gas companies are shutting down. Offshore is picking up a little bit, but for the most part with oil at $47 a barrel who can afford to make a profit. No one. I lost my job due to the economic downturn in the oil and gas industry. I have suffered and so has my family. What we need to do is build LNG plants, as well as, drill for oil. If we import from Trinidad and Tobago and Russia God forbid we will pay out of the yoohoo if you know what I mean. We have small reserves in gas, but more in oil. Louisiana and Texas produce more oil than any other states, but the recent downturn has hurt not only us, but the whole country. No more drilling in exploration in Colorado. Wamsutter, Wyoming is almost completely shut down. No drilling in Utah or Idaho to speak of, but there is some drilling in Arkansas and Pennsylvania. We need to use our resources to create jobs and not depend on someone who truthfully does not know what he is speaking about like Obama. Just because he says something does not make it so.
Brad
P.S. Quit bailing people out and have us pay for it if they are going to file for bankruptcy anyway.
Socrates: You’re right, the US isn’t the biggest polluter in the world anymore — China passed us and left us dead in the tracks, and India is right behind them. Like we’ve said before, climate change is a global issue that is going to require a global solution. Unless a country like the United States develops clean coal technologies and makes it possible for developing countries to use them, other efforts here in the U.S. will continue to be dwarfed on the international level.
G-I: Here at ACCCE, we believe in an all-of-the-above energy approach—we’ll need all of our domestic resources to meet our growing energy demand and solve our climate challenges. However, you can’t discount that half of our nation’s electricity currently comes from coal—which also holds down energy costs for millions of Americans.
Jeff Schimpff: Actually, air quality today is better than it has been in a generation, partly because we’ve invested in technologies for cleaner power plants. Also, solar and wind power are not replacements for coal. Electricity is produced in base-load power and peaking power. Base-load power is the energy necessary to keep the electricity grid energized and meet a constant demand. Peaking power is energy that comes on and off throughout the day, when electricity usage and energy demand goes up.
Peaking power uses intermittent power resources like solar and wind that produce electricity only when there’s sufficient direct sunlight or sufficient sustained wind speed. For base-load power, you must use so-called hard-path fuels such as coal, which can provide power 24 hours per day.
Nevertheless, we support the use of all of our domestic energy resources—we’ll need them all for secure, reliable and domestic energy.
we need to be independant of foreign oil. we do not need to penalize the oil co., the coal co. and the consumers for production and consumption until replacement options are in place to be used. this is the cap and trade plan and will cause great harm to all americans. everything obama has done will hurt this country! he is a disasterous fraud.
Clean coal? haha, what a joke!!! coal is never clean. coal= death to Earth.
Anyone who at this point wishes to argue that climate change is a hoax needs to first give their credentials! Example- your degree in climatology, meteorology, etc. If not nobody should take you any more serious than they would the village idiot! The overwhelming majority of individuals who are actual experts on the subject all agree that climate change is very real, is predominately caused by human activity, and that we have a short window to act on a global scale in order to prevent the most extreme effects of climate change. Also, currently there is no such thing as clean coal…so the proponents of coal will have to develop sequestration technology and clean methods to extract without damaging the environment or coal has no future! Let’s keep in mind coal is solar power…it is just the dirtiest form! The 21st century will be the ages of clean solar technology forms…direct solar, wind, and who knows what great strides we will make as we leave fossil fuels in the past where they belong and literally in the dustbin of history! cb
April 29, 2009
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CLEAN COAL OR GAS, and OIL !!!
Even Nuclear is never a wise decision. It failed in the past
and creates dangerous possibilities, as well as disaster for waste regulation.
I don’t see any other alternative than Nuclear to use it for supply masive transportation
like train with a trailer to transpor litle coomuted cars.
On concern to: “Please still have GOT to quit falling into that global warming trap”.
The reeason we live in a continental does not mean that we shall be careles about the
people living in litle Island are you willing to bring them land in the continental in
return for your selfish behaivor to drive along in a poluter car?
Climatologist9: Actually, coal plants are 77 percent cleaner than they were 35 years ago on the basis of regulated emissions per unit of energy produced. And currently, there are more than 300 research projects around the country where several billion dollars are being devoted to clean coal technology, each one breaking new ground and helping pave the way for an energy independent future.
And as I’ve said before, solar and wind power are not replacements for coal. Electricity is produced in base-load power and peaking power. Base-load power is the energy necessary to keep the electricity grid energized and meet a constant demand. Peaking power is energy that comes on and off throughout the day, when electricity usage and energy demand goes up.
Peaking power uses intermittent power resources like solar and wind that produce electricity only when there’s sufficient direct sunlight or sufficient sustained wind speed. For base-load power, you must use so-called hard-path fuels such as coal, which can provide power 24 hours per day.
Technology is going to evolve, and coal is one of those unique bridge fuels that will take us to that next energy renaissance. As a matter of fact, coal may fuel the next energy renaissance. For example, hydrogen can be produced from coal.
Wow. This is one issue that should not be politicized. We all have a stake in clean air, water and so on. Personally, I hope the energy companies are shaking in their boots. There propaganda blitz says a lot. Climate change is real, listen to the science not the Big Energy proxies aka Republican Politicians.
obama,is athief &a liar he has stolen our money by using the housing ind. two years ago the banks were told to give out credit cards to any one who applied.that included illegal aliens who couldn’t pay back loans.for their new homes they were allowed to purchase with out credit refrences.also new cars they coulnn’t pay for. this also includes legal citezins who simply couldn’t afford now we all have to pay out nose for the rest of our lives ;including our children.this has been in the making for along time so they canforce us into a one world gov. say goodby to your guns &freedom say goodby to AMERICA
There is no such thing as clean coal right now. It is all in experimental demostration plants that are not economic. Coal not only is responsible for over half the emissions of CO2 worldwide but also for emissions of huge amounts of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury and particulate matter. The coal industry seeks to profit by pushing the true costs of coal onto the business community and the general public in the form of dirty air and horrendus environmental mining practices.
Your ad for the coal industry posits a ridiculous situation. The second greatest expense for businesses – small businesses, at least – is health care. And the discussion is overtly self-serving because there is no such thing as “clean coal.”
Concerned Human: We recognize that climate change is a global issue that is going to require a global solution. Coal has to be part of the solution, not a target of the policy. Unlike folks who are saying that reducing greenhouse gases in the utility sector will require us to use different energy sources, we believe that the only way to get that done is to figure out how to use our current energy resources differently.
You guys are liars, there is only one carbon sequestration coal plant in the US, the cost is astronomical and it only captures half of its emissions. Stop poisoning OUR air, stop lying to the American people. coshould be phased out as quickly as possible, i for one am prepared to spend my hard earned dollars on clean energy.the only thing clean about coal is the landscape after you remove the mountain tops. Your million dollar beds won’t help you sleep at night.
What “clean coal” it’s an oxymoron. Only those with vested interests in the coal industry use this phrase. If we don’t stop this air pollution our kids won’t have air to breathe, it’s just that simple. Solar, wind and wave power now!
Jimmy: Energy is a very complex issue, and coal just can’t be phased out overnight. Coal will remain the backbone of the U.S. electricity system for decades if not centuries, and incorporating carbon capture and sequestration is essential to our future. Coal needs to be part of the clean energy discussion, because solar and wind are not replacements for coal. And according to a report by the Department of Energy, your hard earned dollars would be put to good use – because clean coal technology pays off.
West Coast: I think you need to think again about clean coal technology. This Center for Public Integrity article from April talks about who we are, what we do and why we do it. I hope you’ll rethink clean coal after checking it out. You can also find out more about what clean coal is on our site.