Environmentalists question coal's place in Obama policy

By GottaLaff

The Monroe Power Plant in Monroe, Mich., with four coal-fired generating units built in the early 1970s emitted 19.4 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2008, the ninth largest amount among U.S. power plants. | Renee Schoof / MCT

Environmentalists are right. There is no such thing as clean coal.

Maybe Prez O should read this:

On the face of it, making the nation's abundant supply of coal less polluting is alluring. Keeping coal in the energy equation preserves jobs, and a way of life.

However, some scientists, clean-energy advocates and electricity producers are questioning Obama's approach. Instead, some argue, the world should phase out coal, use natural gas more efficiently and put more emphasis on renewable energy.

Critics of the administration's coal strategy also say it will be too expensive to retrofit existing plants with new technology, capture the carbon dioxide, compress it and pipe it to underground storage. More coal also would be needed to run the capture equipment.

What's more, the process wouldn't reduce coal's other pollution problems: smog, mercury, and the toxic metals such as lead and selenium in coal ash. Continuing to rely on coal also would do nothing to end the environmental damage of mining the coal itself. [...]

The Sierra Club has said it likes the president's overall energy plan, but disagrees with him on coal.

And while we're at it, until there's a safe way to store nuclear waste, ix-nay on the ukes-nay, too.

The coal industry just lost another one

By GottaLaff

There is no such thing as clean coal:

The coal industry just lost another one. Alliant Energy announced it is canceling a proposed $1.8 billion power plant in Marshalltown, Iowa. Despite new publicity campaigns from groups like the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity and America’s Power, the Iowa project is the 94th proposed coal plant defeated in the past two years, according to Mary Ann Hitt, deputy director of the Sierra Club’s National Coal Campaign.

Alliant’s statement seems to recognize the new political realities of coal in the age of acknowleding climate change, citing as the reason for the cancellation:

[A] combination of factors including the current economic and financial climate, increasing environmental, legislative and regulatory uncertainty regarding regulation of future greenhouse gas emissions and the terms placed on the proposed power plant by regulators.

Reality? I remember that word. It seemed to have disappeared for about, what, 8 years?

Shallow Thoughts: CNN/Rush Limbaugh edition

By GottaLaff

Today's Shallow Thought:

CNN is ecstatic. They are already gushing about all the new Rush clips that they can loop ad nauseam instead of those pesky anti-coal ads.

That was today's Shallow Thought. Thank you for wading in.

VIDEO-- Myth-Information: Coal-sponsored CNN rejects anti-coal ad

By GottaLaff

Anyone who thinks that the news media are not bought and paid-for is delusional:

Academy Award-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen created the anti-coal ad to harpoon the coal industry’s greenwashing campaign. Today, Politico’s Mike Allen reported that CNN rejected the ad [...]

As ThinkProgress has reported, CNN’s presidential campaign coverage received significant backing from the coal industry. The Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has also tracked CNN’s Ali Velshi’s promotion of so-called clean coal.

No bias in the media. Nope. Ridiculous. Absolutely crazy.

Eradicating an ugly Bush stain: Obama EPA will investigate coal ash sites

By GottaLaff

I've posted twice about these sludgy messes. Finally, we'll have a president that actually addresses them directly and quickly:

The Obama administration will immediately begin to assess the hundreds of coal ash disposal sites at power plants across the country in the wake of two spills in Alabama and Tennessee.

Lisa Jackson, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency will also reconsider federal regulation. [...]

In 2000, the EPA recommended setting a national standard for the hundreds of coal ash disposal sites nationwide. But the EPA never acted on that recommendation during the Bush administration.

BushCo needs a swift kick in the ash.

Toxic sludge redux

By GottaLaff

No, the post title doesn't refer to BushCo, but only just this once:

The Tennessean reports that there has been a second TVA spill, today's occurring at the Widows Creek coal-burning power plant in northeastern Alabama. A "break in a pipe that removes water from the 147-acre gypsum pond" reportedly caused the leak, which resulted in "the spill of gypsum slurry at 10,000 gallons." "Some materials flowed into Widows Creek, although most of the leakage remained in the settling pond," said a TVA spokesman.

A.k.a. clean coal.

"Coal Carolers" scrubbed from front group's website

By GottaLaff

Suh-weet:

[The] American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), a coal industry front group, has scrubbed the “Coal Carolers” from its website; the link to the old carolers page redirects viewers to a blog post posting that “it’s time for them to go home for the holidays“:

The group’s Facebook page has also been taken down.

More:

After just three days of online absurdity, the coal industry front group, "America's Power" canned the anthropomorphic singing chunks of coal from their website amidst a torrent of netroots pressure.

After getting kicked around by the blogosphere for a few days, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity's absurd and more than slightly disturbing and sacrilegious effort to win the hearts and minds of Americans with doctored Christmas carols was eventually pilloried by Rachel Maddow on MSNBC:

"How about turning the most famous song in the English language about the birth of Jesus into a commercial for the coal industry? ... Where are all those war on Christmas people when you need them?!"

Calling coal clean is like calling Bush honest.

Or smart.

Or sober.