Arrgh, Stephane! Don't Do an Obama!
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01.17.07
Here we are, getting all footsie under the table with new Liberal leader Stephane Dion, the new Great Green Hope, an environmentalist who can actually form a government, after a long intense relationship with Jack Layton and the NDP and a brief flirtation with Elizabeth May and the Greens, and you go all evil on us. According to the Star: "'It's also time to look at clean coal as a solution to meeting electricity needs while reducing harmful emissions blamed for global warming', Dion told a business audience in what was billed as his first major speech as head of the federal party. 'I think there are cleaner coal possibilities, we need to go there to invest in it and to be a champion in the world,' said Dion, noting university researchers in Saskatchewan and Alberta are looking into the potential."
Just read Grist reaming Barack Obama for supporting "clean coal": there is no such thing, and you will lose any credibility with green voters outside of Cape Breton and, um, Alberta and British Columbia and Saskatchewan... do we wonder now why you like clean coal?
You can be seriously concerned about global warming and controlling CO2 or you can pander to provinces where you would like to gain seats. We in Ontario and Quebec are watching.::thestar
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Get off it...
There will never be a candidate that will support everything you want. It will not happen. I know this post is about Dion, but those "reaming" Mr. Obama need to just step back and look at what could be the greatest thing to happen to us "greenies" in a very long time.
You may not realize that non-hydro renewable energy is currently less than 5% of your energy supply. To exclude coal in the short term is utterly out of the question. So you have to do something with it and why not make it clean?
The realities the energy supply are not such that polititians and scientists cannot just wave a magic wand and suddenly everything is powered by wind and solar...
I agree with the other posters. Here in fantasy land we can eschew anything that isn't 100% green, but in the real world you have to make logical compromises and take incremental steps. CLEAN coal may not exist but cleanER coal sure can. With the 2 most populous countries in the world rapidly accelerating into the 1st world, renewables will not be able to keep up with demand. You can bet your bippy that we are all going to be relying a little more heavily on coal than we would like to. It would be wise to accept the realities and work toward making coal use more palatable.
I agree. While eschewing other measures by only focusing on Clean Coal is evil, Clean Coal MAY be possible, and as such we should be researching it.
From what I've heard Dion say, he really gets. Encouraging efficiency, solar, wind, AND Clean Coal is great policy.
What a coincidence. I basically agree with most of what was written in the main article and what was written in the following commentaries. Sound impossible? Not at all. What the comments say sound more or less logical, but it also makes sense to me to PUSH politicians toward becoming greener. Greens don't do the environment or the movement any favors by giving influential individuals kudos where they should be getting criticism. Yes, coal will unfortunately be with us for some time. Yes, better to make it cleaner and greener. Yes, politicians should be trying to make coal greener. But no, the green movement should NOT stop pushing for the greenest option. The way to make politicians and laws as green as possible is not by saying: lay off it, they won't do everything we want. The way to get them and laws to be as green as is absolutely possible is to push the best green options. To push for the future that is clean and sustainable NOW. Push, push, push, push, push. And don't ever stop pushing it. And don't make non-greens EVER think we will be satisfied with anything other than that clean, green future. Because as soon as they think we will be satisfied with 'clean' coal and 'safe' nukes and few renewables, then that is it. That is exactly what will we end up with - now and in future. To ensure we get that renewable energy future that we need, we push hard and don't stop until we are there. And we most definitely are not there yet. So, yes we need to make coal greener but **** coal! WE NEED RENEWABLES NOW!
I agree that it may be a while before there is the ultimate clean energy source. However, I think that if cleaner coal is to be supported, cleaner mining should also be supported. Mountain top removal is devastating and single-handedly ruins mountain air, streams, and the well-being of those living below the mountains that are blasted. Below ground mining is not the answer either when I think about those who live most of their lives underground, breathing coal dust, some getting trapped and dying before rescue can get to them. The fact is that there is no easy, safe, healthy way to mine for coal. However, I know that there is no easy solution to the energy crisis, but I think that some heads should be put together in order to figure out a better way than to lean on coal to dig us out, because coal isn't digging us out. Check out www.ilovemountains.org to check out if your power company uses energy from plants that use coal mined using mountain top removal.