“Clean coal” – what is that supposed to mean? Our politicians are all for it and say it every time they speak. The coal industry brags about it. The presidential candidates favor it. The electric utilities just love it, but what is it?
Supposedly, it means capturing carbon dioxide before it leaves the smokestack. Then, the carbon dioxide will be contained and buried or stored somewhere or some how so we’ll never see or hear of it again.
The terms “pipe dream,” “ambiguous,” “misleading,” “absurd” or “just plain baloney” come to mind. “Clean coal” has already made it to the oxymoron list on the Internet.
The government is bailing out of support for clean coal projects; they’re way too expensive. And, the technology appears to be farther and farther away, beyond 2020 even.
Do you think the politicians and the industry will quit saying clean coal until it can really mean something? Probably not. It sounds nice, but it’s something that technology hasn’t caught up to yet.
With the new administration in January 2009, America will have a new secretary of the interior and a new EPA administrator. The new leaders may take their job seriously and enforce the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. They may not accept such terms as “clean coal” until it actually exists. We can only hope.
A letter to the editor, entire article posted -
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