A November 1 article in POWER Magazine relates the findings of recent MIT research which investigates the rapid development of coal-fueled generation throughout China.
Recent comments have been attributed to Senator Obama regarding the implementation of a cap and trade system for carbon dioxide emissions, that could "bankrupt" the coal industry or those who plan to build coal-fueled generation plants.
As a non-partisan organization, the American Coal Council does not take positions on the outcome of the election. Nor do we lobby for the implementation of specific policies or legislation.
It is extremely important, however, for both candidates to recognize the value and stability that the coal industry provides for our economy. "Bankrupting" the source of half of our electrical power would have profound negative economic, social, and environmental impacts.
Coal currently provides half of our domestic electricity supply. It does so at rates well below most other competing energy sources. "Bankrupting" one of our nation's most abundant and affordable, energy resources would cause rapid increases in energy costs for main street and our nation's businesses. Additionally, tens of thousands of jobs would be lost in our mining, utility, and related service industries.
The ACC believes that this issue points to the continuing need to educate policy makers on the pivitol role that coal plays in our economy.
Last September we reported in the Coalblog about former Vice President Al Gore's calls for young people to engage in civil disobedience as a means of stopping the construction of new coal plants.
We are now treating the Earth's atmosphere as an open sewer ... I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers ... and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power plants.
In that post we also noted how NASA climate scientist James Hansen continued in his moves further into a more extreme activist form of "science" by joining Gore in his calls for direct action.
It seems to me that young people, especially, should be doing whatever is necessary to block construction of dirty (no CCS) coal-fired power plants.
At the September 24th meeting for the Clinton Global Initiative, the former Vice President upped the ante by once again calling for civil disobediance and direct action against new coal-fueled plants.
According to this Wonk Room (Think Progress) blog posting, Senator and Democratic Vice Presidential candidate, Joe Biden, stated -- at a September 17, 2008 campaign stop -- that the Obama campaign was "not supporting clean coal."
That comment came when Biden answered a question from an environmental activist in the crowd about energy options for the country. In response, he clearly stated his strong support of renewable energy technologies like solar and wind and then moved on to attack coal as "dirty" and claimed it was "causing people to die." He made it abundantly clear that he was "not supporting clean coal."
Jason Hayes, ACC Communications Director has been invited by the editors of a new news and social content website -- www.opposingviews.com -- to join the discussion on important energy issues we are facing today. He was asked to debate two questions, 1) Should the US Build More Coal-Fired Power Plants? and 2) Is Nuclear Power America's Best Energy Alternative?
Duke Energy held a celebration ceremony to mark the start of contstruction on its Edwardsport IGCC plant. While site prepartation for the $2.35 billion plant began shortly after the plant's permits and approvals were all in place, this celebration was held to "mark the unofficial start of construction."
