tagged w/ Clean Coal
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Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain have been duking it out over energy policy. But between Obama's push for "clean coal" and McCain's rallying for offshore drilling, will the planet come out worse off than before?
Senators Barack Obama and John McCain may want to protect the environment and fight climate change, but they both have to be realistic in a fossil-fuel dependent world. Coal produces 50% of the electricity that we use, and oil heats homes and fuels almost all of the cars on the road today. Both Obama's call for "clean coal" and McCain's support for offshore drilling have come under fire by environmentalists. Here's a rundown of how their respective visions would impact the planet should either of them come to pass.
Short-Term Effects
Obama: Current coal plants are the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, but most of the emissions can be cleaned. Coal mining, strip-mining, mountain-top removal, trucking and burning of coal will continue until carbon capture and storage begins.
McCain: States will individually approve offshore drilling and then exploratory drilling can begin. This may limit expected outputs, particularly in states that are opposed to coastal drilling. Seismic air guns, used in exploratory drilling, are very disruptive to marine wildlife.
Mid-Term Effects
Obama: The United States plans to build more than 100 new coal plants, 85% of which will use old production methods and get grandfathered into emissions limits. Obama's plan caps emissions. This will help reign in emissions, but plants will still be emitting CO2 during construction of these plants, until carbon capture and storage is developed.
McCain: Construction of new infrastructure during this time will be damaging to marine eco-systems and coastal wetlands. The infrastructure, including thousands of miles of pipes, ships transporting oil to land, ports, and refineries, all leak. Transport is responsible for 1/3 of all oil releases.
Long-Term Effects
Obama: Commercial-scale coal plants with carbon capture and storage will not be available until 2025. It's unclear how storage would work, as the first proposed plant is currently on hold. This plan wouldn't reduce fossil fuel dependence but would attempt to produce electricity with fewer emissions.
McCain: When the rigs begin pumping oil, there will be leaks. Heavy metals in the buoyancy tanks leak into the ocean. Excess water generated during pumping is mixed with oil, drilling fluids, arsenic, benzene and other toxic chemicals. A certain level is allowed to be put back in the ocean. It'll be ten years before any oil starts flowing; alternative fuels will be available before you get a drop of oil.
Bottom Line
Both coal and oil are fuels that we need to get away from. But, for the meantime, Obama's plan offers a way to potentially clean up our mess over time (although without weaning us off coal), while McCain offers us a few years of oil that we won't see for another decade (and yet doing nothing to lower prices at the fuel pump nor effectively reducing our dependence on foreign oil). Neither is perfect, but Obama's seems like a smarter strategy. By the time either of these plans go online, however, both Obama and McCain will be long out of office and, more than likely, we'll have found a better fuel source.
Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain have been duking it out over energy... more
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Energy Idiocy Seen on the Streets of Denver
This post is from Sierra Club Deputy Press Secretary Josh Dorner, who is also in Denver for the Democratic National Convention.
As has been reported by ThinkProgress and others, ExxonMobil has paid for a significant portion of the convention's media coverage and the energy industry (and most others) are lavishing sponsorships on events, parties, and receptions from dusk 'til dawn. But the entrenched dirty energy interests seem particularly intent on using the convention to push their issues.
Upon arriving at the swirling maelstrom that was Denver International Airport, I was immediately greeted by ads from the American Coalition Clean Coal Electricity (nee Americans for Balanced Energy Choices), the coal industry front group. (Their ads were even more prominent at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport where I had flown in from and where thousands of Republicans will pass through during their own convention next week.) A stroll down and around the 16th Street Mall, Denver's main drag, revealed even more energy idiocy. For those less ambulatory (or less willing to walk around in wool on a 90-degree day), clean coal even brings the message to you (click here to see the full photo):
2008-08-25-cleancoal.jpg
And, everyone's favorite slogan from the Newt Gingrich crew (click here if you can't see the full photo): 2008-08-25-photo.jpg
Energy Idiocy Seen on the Streets of Denver
This post is from Sierra Club Deputy... more
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Obama and McCain both say global warming a problem, but are their proposals enough to make a difference?
The Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls put forward their respective energy and environmental platforms last week, addressing offshore drilling, coal, nuclear energy and fuel efficiency. Both John McCain and Barack Obama have said that Global warming is a problem and would make it a top priority. But would they go as far as NASA's Dr. James Hansen says is necessary before reaching what he calls the tipping point? The Real News spoke with Ben Wikler of Avaaz.org and Professor Catherine Gautier about the promises and shortfalls of the candidates' plans.
Ben Wikler is a campaign director for Avaaz.org, a global version of MoveOn.org, where he oversees efforts on climate change, global health, and other issues. Previously, he worked as press secretary for Congressman Sherrod Brown's US Senate campaign in Ohio, and was a founding producer of The Al Franken Show on Air America Radio.
Catherine Gautier is involved in educational aspects of climate change science and policy. Originally from Paris, France, Gautier directs the Institute for Computational Earth Systems Science at the University of California Santa Barbara. the book 'Facing Climate Change Together' was compiled and edited by Catherine Gautier and Jean-Louis Fellous.Obama and McCain both say global warming a problem, but are their proposals enough to... more
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In a single year, less than one in 100,000 Americans contract a rare form of blood cancer. In Pennsylvania coal country, the rate is nearly five times higher. Many suspect "clean" coal is the cause. As the 2008 presidential candidates promote the potential of clean coal as an alternative fuel source, and as Congress prepares to debate energy legislation, ANP takes a look at the controversial practice of coal-ash dumping. An investigation brought to you in conjunction with our partner The Washington Independent.In a single year, less than one in 100,000 Americans contract a rare form of blood... more
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lagan
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added this
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3 years ago
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Today I met a man ( around 60 yrs old) wearing a shirt that read Clean Coal on the front and Abundant, Cheap and Clean on the back. As I passed him I asked " Did Santa Clause bring you that shirt? " He replied "F#*kin' treehugger" I laughed as I walked away. How lucky was this man that I don't believe the marijuana B.S. either. Today I met a man ( around 60 yrs old) wearing a shirt that read Clean Coal on the... more
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My view on clean coal not being safe and to reiterate that if we truly want to bring ourselves into the 21st century, solar power is the answer.My view on clean coal not being safe and to reiterate that if we truly want to bring... more
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"Greenpeace posed as a pro-coal organization to become a sponsor of the 2008 McCloskey Coal USA conference, which was surprised but allowed them to deliver a brief anti-coal message, officials said Friday.
When The McCloskey Group figured out who the Institute for Energy Solutions really were, they decided to let Greenpeace have their booth under the phone name and make brief remarks, organizers said.
The conference managers did take the precaution of adding security because of Greenpeace's reputation for confrontational, disruptive tactics, they said. The muscle was used once, to eject one Greenpeace member."
Hilarious."Greenpeace posed as a pro-coal organization to become a sponsor of the 2008... more
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Get ready for the selling of "clean coal." A $40 million industry-sponsored marketing and lobbying campaign has launched, with one national television spot featuring a farmer, a teacher, and a woman in a white lab coat declaring: "I believe"—while a voiceover describes how coal can be burned in an environmentally friendly manner.
With coal-rich swing states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia critical to the Presidential race, both Barack Obama and John McCain have endorsed the idea that coal is well on its way to becoming a benign energy source. Obama's primary campaign in Kentucky sent out flyers in May showing the smiling Democratic candidate, a coal barge, and the message "Barack Obama believes in clean Kentucky coal."
The catch is that for now—and for years to come—"clean coal" will remain more a catchphrase than a reality. Despite the eagerness of the coal and power industries to sanitize their image and the desire of U.S. politicians to push a healthy-sounding alternative to expensive foreign oil and natural gas, clean coal is still a misnomer.
Corporations and the federal government have tried for years to accomplish "carbon capture and sequestration." So far they haven't had much luck. The method is widely viewed as being decades away from commercial viability. Even then, the cost could be prohibitive: by a conservative estimate, several trillion dollars to switch to clean coal in the U.S. alone.
Get ready for the selling of "clean coal." A $40 million industry-sponsored... more
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Sen. John McCain called Wednesday for the construction of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030 and pledged $2 billion a year in federal funds "to make clean coal a reality," measures designed to reduce dependence on foreign oil.
In a third straight day of campaigning devoted to the energy issue, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting also said the only time Democratic rival Barack Obama voted for a tax cut was for a "break for the oil companies."
McCain said the 104 nuclear reactors currently operating around the country produce about 20 percent of the nation's annual electricity needs...Sen. John McCain called Wednesday for the construction of 45 new nuclear reactors by... more
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