RECS: We Believe in Clean Coal

Sometimes in this job, it’s easy to feel like people just don’t get it. And as I get older, I often feel like my parents when I see young adults who are very firm in their conviction and purpose but just fail to see the bigger picture.

That’s why it was so exciting to see the video posted above, in which the next generation of environmental scientists, geologists, engineers and researchers talk about CCS, the shorthand for carbon capture and sequestration.

These are America’s top minds at places like Columbia University and Rutgers University. And in the face of the energy challenges facing our nation, they’re working toward a solution. They recognize the necessity that we have carbon capture and storage because we will still need to use coal (both here and around the world), but they also get that technology is the solution.

Other voices from the academic community on CCS:

•See video: Dr. Sally Benson, director of the Global Climate Energy Project at Stanford University, is an expert on how carbon dioxide flows through rocks.

•See video: Dr. Klaus Lackner, the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, is an expert on ensuring that sequestered CO2 stays in the ground in a safe manner.

•See video: Dr. Michael Celia, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University, is an expert on assessing CO2 storage possibilities.

With so many talented individuals working toward the same goal, it’s all the more evident that clean energy technologies like CCS can and will reduce emissions while allowing us to use our most abundant and affordable energy source: coal.