common sense for the common good

Coal, Coal, Go Away

January 15th, 2008 by Vihar Sheth
Posted in Activism, Energy, Technology, Transportation

People all over the country are fighting the good fight against coal. According to the Associated Press:

In federal and state courtrooms across the country, environmental groups are putting coal-fueled power plants on trial in a bid to slow the industry’s biggest construction boom in decades. At least four dozen coal plants are being contested in 29 states . . . The targeted utilities include giants like Peabody Energy and American Electric Power down to small rural cooperatives.

This article, by Matthew Brown, gives these facts:

  • Coal plants provide just over 50 percent of the nation’s electricity. They also are the largest domestic source of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, emitting 2 billion tons annually, about a third of the country’s total.
  • Environmental groups cite 59 canceled, delayed or blocked plants as evidence they are turning back the “coal rush.” That stacks up against 22 new plants now under construction in 14 states — the most in more than two decades.
  • The Sierra Club spent about $1 million on such efforts in 2007 and hopes to ratchet that figure up to $10 million this year.
  • Meanwhile, coal interests are pouring even more into a promotional campaign launched by the industry group Americans for Balanced Energy Choices. It spent $15 million last year and expects to more than double that to $35 million in 2008, said the group’s director, Joe Lucas.
  • Utilities currently burn more than 1 billion tons of coal annually in more than 600 plants. Over the next two decades, the Bush administration projects coal’s share of electricity generation will increase to almost 60 percent.

I don’t believe relying on coal is the type of energy independence Americans are looking for. If we replace wars with pollution so rampant we have (another) national health crisis and (another) environmental crisis we will be no better off that we are now. Plus, we won’t be able to goad “allied” forces to die for us. We will die alone.

In the last few months of 2007, I wrote three pieces on coal:

The last piece, “Carbon Capture - Will It Work?”, was by far the most optimistic, and only because my hope is contingent on a new technology. We’ll see.

I fail to understand why major corporations keep making stupid decision after stupid decision. Perhaps the coal industry has no choice. Oil, natural gas, etc . . . have all been claimed. It’s fight or die for them too. Maybe instead of spending millions to maintain the status quo, some of that money should be spent on developing new technologies.

Take General Motors for instance. Toyota is kicking its ass, and rightfully so. Toyota is a better run organization that produces higher quality, more efficient, more attractive, more reliable vehicles. So what does GM announce? It’s going to partner with a company that produces ethanol, but we all know that ethanol wanks. Of course Toyota then announces yesterday it will sell a plug-in car starting 2010. Kudos are definitely due to GM for announcing the Chevy Volt many moons ago, but given American car companies’ tendency to destroy winning ideas (previous iterations of the electric car) I’m betting on Toyota’s plug-in.

I need to stop or I will spiral into a tangental abyss. Have a good day.



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