Liquid Coal Getting the Smashing it Deserves

Two proposed amendments to the federal energy bill have been soundly defeated.

The first, proposed by Sen Bunning (R-KY), would have set requirements that the U.S. use six billion gallons of coal-derived fuel by 2022. On June 19 this amendment went down 55-39 - click here to see how your Senator voted. A 'nay' vote is the vote for the environment, and I have to give credit where credit is due, Sen. Obama, long a proponent of liquid coal voted against this amendment.

The second amendment, proposed by Sen. Tester (D-MT), allowed for $10 billion in loan guarantees to produce liquid coal for uses beyond just transportation fuel. This one went down 61-33. You can check out the vote count here. Again, a 'nay' vote is the right vote, though here, Sen. Obama voted 'yea'. Admittedly, this amendment would be less horrible than the other, since it does offer some language on fighting global warming, but the simple reality is that with current technologies, any form of liquid coal is going to be dirtier than what we've got. And that doesn't even mention the insane cost inherent in getting liquid coal up and running.

Kudos to the Senate for shutting down these two amendments!

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Prodded By Industry Lobbying, Self-Proclaimed Global Warming Opponents Now Pushing Coal

Global carbon dioxide emissions are now exceeding even the most “extreme” predictions, and 2007 is already the hottest year ever recorded. Yet even as congressional leaders draft legislation to reduce greenhouse gases, “a powerful roster of Democrats and Republicans is pushing to subsidize coal as the king of alternative fuels.”

Prodded by “intense lobbying from the coal industry,” lawmakers from coal states are proposing that taxpayers spend billions of dollars to subsidize the coal industry’s production of liquid diesel fuel.

This is a dangerously backwards idea. Coal-to-liquid fuels “produce almost twice the volume of greenhouse gases as ordinary diesel,” and the production process of such fuels “creates almost a ton of carbon dioxide for every barrel of liquid fuel.” The New York Times offers this infographic:

Congressional supporters of coal-to-liquids argue that “coal-based fuels are more American than gasoline.” But the only responsible way to achieve American energy independence is to create policies that also reduce global warming, and that can be done with low-carbon, American-grown alternative fuels.

A profile in courage on this issue is Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who this month killed a coal-to-liquids proposal despite coming from a coal state. As Gristmill’s Dave Roberts noted, Tester realizes “that blundering ahead with coal before addressing its emissions is tantamount to collective suicide, and he’s not willing to sign on with that for the sake of a big-money industry in his state.”

Posted on Think Progress 5/29/07

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Al Gore's Ten-Point Plan to Fight Global Warming

Here’s a video and written summary of Gore’s testimony before Congress detailing his ten-point plan to confront the threat of global warming.

http://fypower.org/news/?p=1017

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