Tell Congress we need a better climate bill

As you may know, Congress is currently working out provisions to a climate bill that would affect businesses and families across the country by increasing the cost of energy.

Instead of writing about the limitations of the draft bill, our new Vice President of Media Relations Lisa Camooso Miller sat down in front of the camera to talk about what can be done to improve it.

Comments

[Fred Cunningham Jr.]

We need reasonable legis-
lation. Don't shove it down our throats for our betterment
in "your opinion". Do not vote for this bill. Thank You.

[Stephen King]

Very good video and I support most of what was stated - all but the CLEAN coal. Now she did clarify the one key element of the video - cleaning emissions and that has been done as she stated, but the process to get the coal to the condition so the emissions are reduced creates a huge "carbon" waste storage issue - that was mentioned also but in much too light a manner.

So, we do need our congress to write better legislation leading us into a cleaner energy future but coal needs to be put on hold until ALL its pollutants are taken care of in a safe and environmentally sound manner. S. King

[Jonni Doeppenschmidt]

This should be an issue around every water cooler across the country, but until the mainstream media picks up and runs with it, it remains part of the hidden agenda. Please advertise, intelligently and politely, but straight and honestly. Cap and Trade will devaste our economy!!!!!!!

[Monica from ACCCE]

Fred, Jonni: We support a federal plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the Waxman-Markey bill needs to do more to guarantee that consumers are protected from unnecessary increases in energy costs. Because without these changes the bill is not affordable – and therefore, not effective. On our Balanced Energy YouTube Channel, Joe Lucas talks more about why we take this stance.

[Sandip Sen]

32 years ago after graduating in Mech Engineering I joined BHEL India's largest energy equipment manufacturer of coal based power plants. At that time the raging topic of discussion in India was the benefits and evils of computerisation. Communists said it meant job losses, others said it meant more jobs. Others won & thank god.

The winds of change are blowing today for the energy sector.Spain, Portugal, Germany and U.S. have today comissioned 1200 MW of solar plants. 10,000 MW is more on the anvil and should be ready by 2010.Base load and Grid integration problems will also be sorted out once capacities increase.

What a shame that climate change solutions are being provided by a management consulting groups like Mckinsey and not energy specialists from Bechtel, Westinghouse or GE.

The result is a disaster. Negative carbon tarriffs are today the new measures of valuation,and the derivative traders of Wall Street will decide the future of energy specialists by carbon trading.

And it won't be too long that they turn the energy sector into a dead duck for the flogging like they have done to the housing sector a year ago.

I believe climate change must have positive solutions and not be based on negativity.

We must invest heavily in solar and wind energy and enable a smooth transition from fossil fuel. The current energy specialists must be retrained to handle new clean energy which must not be left to novices, amateurs and management consultants. I really don't see why today's energy specialists are up in arms against clean energy like solar & wind power.It is the Governments, WB, IMF and the IPCC who must fund this transition and the energy specialists of fossil based fuels must lead the change.

[Monica from ACCCE]

Sandip: Thanks for sharing your story with us – I think you have an interesting perspective as far as getting the funding from international financial institutions. To be sure, climate change is becoming an increasingly global issue, and it is becoming all of our responsibilities to quickly find an effective solution to the energy issue.

At America’s Power, we are not against alternative energy sources – we embrace all kinds of options. Energy efficiency is great, but it won’t displace the increase in demand resulting from a growing population and a rebounding economy. Renewable energy – while it will grow – won’t be enough to supply America with enough power all on its own, and that’s precisely why we need baseload fuels like coal to be part of our viable solution.

Back to funding – recently, energy companies Peabody Energy, Southern Company, American Electric Power, Luminant and Arch Coal formed a partnership to push clean coal technology forward. And GE has a project of their own. I hope that helps.

[elizabeth fulton]

The coal industry has spent 90 billion dollars, investigating "clean coal", and still can not give us examples of how coal can ever burn "clean".

[elizabeth fulton]

I would really love it if the coal industry could convince me it's a " clean,green energy." My great grandparents had coal delivered down a chute, into the basement... that was in the early 1900's. Please, show me we've come farther.. We have a giant sun, can't we find a way to harness that energy?

[Monica from ACCCE]

Elizabeth: 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.

For some examples of clean coal technology, check out the America’s Power Factuality Tour. We’ve been traveling around the country talking to the people who are behind the production of cleaner electricity from coal.

We stopped in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., home of We Energy’s Pleasant Prairie Power Plant – the cleanest coal plant in the state. Since its construction 30 years ago, the plant installed a retrofit system that has resulted in a 90 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide and a 95 percent reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions.

[Monica from ACCCE]

Elizabeth: Well, you’re right that people have been using coal to generate electricity for a long time. But it’s not true that it is “dirty and archaic” — the industry is actually quite a bit cleaner than ever before. Actually, the point of our ads is to remind people, or tell people who still harbor old opinions on the subject, that coal plants are 77% cleaner than they were 35 years ago.