Candidates Squeezed Between Clean Coal and Climate Change
While Hillary Clinton won West Virginia as predicted, she and Barack Obama must walk a tightrope in coal producing states between so called "clean" coal and climate change.
As Reuters reported: " 'We need some big investments right now in figuring out how to capture and store carbon dioxide from coal,' Clinton told a rally in the rural town of Clear Fork on Monday.
"Clinton has a plan to require U.S. industry to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, but she hasn't brought that up in numerous appearances in West Virginia and Kentucky in recent days.
"Not to be outdone, Obama's campaign has distributed flyers in Kentucky stating that "Barack Obama believes in clean Kentucky coal." The flyers show a picture of giant barges carrying coal down the Ohio River.
" 'There is no such animal as clean coal,' said Brent Blackwelder, president of the environmental group Friends of the Earth. 'We shouldn't be placing our bets on coal to bail us out. We need to be looking at getting rid of coal plants.' "
From TreeHugger: "We were surprised to see this covered in Forbes Magazine, an information source for big investors.
" 'As the nation's coal-fired power plants work to create cleaner skies, they'll likely fill up landfills with millions more tons of potentially harmful ash. More than one-third of the ash generated at the country's hundreds of coal-fired plants is now recycled - mixed with cement to build highways or used to stabilize embankments, among other things.'
" 'But in a process being used increasingly across the nation, chemicals are injected into plants' emissions to capture airborne pollutants. That, in turn, changes the composition of the ash and cuts its usefulness. It can't be used in cement, for example, because the interaction of the chemicals may keep the concrete from hardening.' "
But as TreeHugger continues: "However, if coal burning utilities and the so-called "clean coal plants" were required to meet air emissions standards protective of human health, fly ash produced by them could be regulated as hazardous waste due to the elevated levels of mercury that would result."
From the Columbus Dispatch: "For clean-air advocates, the issue is simple: "There's no such thing as clean coal," said Bruce Nilles, who directs the Sierra Club's National Coal Campaign.
"But how clean is clean? And why are plans to build these plants falling apart?
"Spiraling construction costs and questions about carbon dioxide emissions -- a leading global-warming contributor -- already have delayed plans to build dozens of traditional coal-burning power plants nationwide. Plans for at least 11 coal-to-gas plants have been scrapped or delayed.
"Though coal-gas plants eliminate pollutants that contribute to smog and acid rain -- federal clean-air restrictions call for this -- Nilles said carbon-dioxide emissions still make them "dirty."
" 'None of these plants are doing anything about carbon dioxide yet,' he said.
As the Reuters article concludes:
" 'The candidates appear to be following a tried and true tradition which is telling the audience what they want to hear,' said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, a nonpartisan environmental group. 'It's politics as usual.'
"Even Al Gore, who has become a spokesman for the dangers of climate change, steered clear of talking about global warming when he campaigned in West Virginia ahead of the 2000 presidential elections, O'Donnell said.
"The deletion did not pay off for Gore in the end -- West Virginia cast its lot with Republican George W. Bush instead."
As Reuters reported: " 'We need some big investments right now in figuring out how to capture and store carbon dioxide from coal,' Clinton told a rally in the rural town of Clear Fork on Monday.
"Clinton has a plan to require U.S. industry to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, but she hasn't brought that up in numerous appearances in West Virginia and Kentucky in recent days.
"Not to be outdone, Obama's campaign has distributed flyers in Kentucky stating that "Barack Obama believes in clean Kentucky coal." The flyers show a picture of giant barges carrying coal down the Ohio River.
" 'There is no such animal as clean coal,' said Brent Blackwelder, president of the environmental group Friends of the Earth. 'We shouldn't be placing our bets on coal to bail us out. We need to be looking at getting rid of coal plants.' "
From TreeHugger: "We were surprised to see this covered in Forbes Magazine, an information source for big investors.
" 'As the nation's coal-fired power plants work to create cleaner skies, they'll likely fill up landfills with millions more tons of potentially harmful ash. More than one-third of the ash generated at the country's hundreds of coal-fired plants is now recycled - mixed with cement to build highways or used to stabilize embankments, among other things.'
" 'But in a process being used increasingly across the nation, chemicals are injected into plants' emissions to capture airborne pollutants. That, in turn, changes the composition of the ash and cuts its usefulness. It can't be used in cement, for example, because the interaction of the chemicals may keep the concrete from hardening.' "
But as TreeHugger continues: "However, if coal burning utilities and the so-called "clean coal plants" were required to meet air emissions standards protective of human health, fly ash produced by them could be regulated as hazardous waste due to the elevated levels of mercury that would result."
From the Columbus Dispatch: "For clean-air advocates, the issue is simple: "There's no such thing as clean coal," said Bruce Nilles, who directs the Sierra Club's National Coal Campaign.
"But how clean is clean? And why are plans to build these plants falling apart?
"Spiraling construction costs and questions about carbon dioxide emissions -- a leading global-warming contributor -- already have delayed plans to build dozens of traditional coal-burning power plants nationwide. Plans for at least 11 coal-to-gas plants have been scrapped or delayed.
"Though coal-gas plants eliminate pollutants that contribute to smog and acid rain -- federal clean-air restrictions call for this -- Nilles said carbon-dioxide emissions still make them "dirty."
" 'None of these plants are doing anything about carbon dioxide yet,' he said.
"In fact, these plants would produce an estimated 4 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. Coal-gas plants would emit the same amount of carbon dioxide as traditional power plants, Nilles said."
As the Reuters article concludes:
" 'The candidates appear to be following a tried and true tradition which is telling the audience what they want to hear,' said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, a nonpartisan environmental group. 'It's politics as usual.'
"Even Al Gore, who has become a spokesman for the dangers of climate change, steered clear of talking about global warming when he campaigned in West Virginia ahead of the 2000 presidential elections, O'Donnell said.
"The deletion did not pay off for Gore in the end -- West Virginia cast its lot with Republican George W. Bush instead."
Posted by Kaz at 5/14/2008 8:15 AM 
Categories: Presidential Race, Politics, elections, Economics, 2008, Energy
Categories: Presidential Race, Politics, elections, Economics, 2008, Energy
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