We tried to debate you last year, but you declined, remember?

Recently, David Roberts, a staff writer at environmental news blog Grist, posted an article in The Huffington Post saying I “ran away like a pansy” and that I “don’t like arguing with people who know what they’re talking about.”

Woah, there. There’s nothing like a little name-calling to hide from an informed debate on our energy policies.

Let me back up a little. In early April, I was interviewed for the “Can Coal Be Earth-Friendly?” episode for news program NOW on PBS. After the show, I participated in an online debate with Roberts. We were given five questions on clean coal and the chance to reply to each other’s answers – and he’s upset because I didn’t want to offer a rebuttal for a few of them.

Honestly, it wasn’t that I felt threatened by the opportunity to argue with the guy. I just didn’t feel like his rebuttal changed the substance of my original answers in any way.

And let me just remind everyone that I initiated an open online dialogue with the folks at Grist, The Huffington Post and the Sierra Club last year and they declined. We invited the major environmental groups to an “equal-time discussion” on common themes that intersect the energy & environmental world. No name calling or mud-slinging, just a straightforward debate relying on accepted facts. We proposed starting with this question: “How do we meet America’s growing energy needs while addressing the climate change issue?”

All of the environmental groups declined.

Here are the facts: We rely on coal today (about half of our electricity is produced by coal). Is there any debate on that subject?

We’re going to need to rely on coal for the foreseeable future, both here in the U.S. and around the world. Generating electricity from coal is less expensive than other energy alternatives. Does anyone doubt the U.S. Department of Energy data backing that up?

Finally, we believe that by continuing to invest in technology, we can reduce emissions even further, including the capture and safe storage of CO­2­.

Next time, Roberts, let’s have a good, clean fight.

Comments

[DALIYA ROBSON]

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