"Clean Coal" Has Prospered With Totalitarian Rule And Oil Shortage

This is one of the best-written articles I've seen on TH lately. Very insightful.

I have to disagree, Anthony. This article has both a factual inaccuracy and a misleading premise.

Firstly, the gasification process used today is an updated version of the original Fischer-Tropsch process, in fact the term is still in use. It was invented in the 1920s in Germany to provide a secure fuel source for the oil poor but coal rich nation. So it was not invented by the Nazi regime, although naturally it was used by them later.

Secondly, the author is straining the meaning of the term “clean coal” and in doing so does a disservice to Treehugger readers. The phrase “clean coal” is generally used to describe Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), a process where CO2 is captured at a coal power plant and stored underground. *If* this process were successful it would be “clean” regarding its CO2 pollutants. Hence the phrase “clean coal.”

By confusing CCS with gasifying coal you mix two very different processes, and if we in the Treehugger community want to be as well armed with information as possible it is important that we know the science behind each. Yes, occasionally the term “clean coal” is used to describe just about any coal technology by green-washing PR campaigns, but the journalists at TH shouldn’t fall for their intentional obfuscation.

It amazes me that the myth of clean coal is not adequately discussed in the television news media, however, it does give me hope to see people commenting on just that, even if it is online. We all know that the internet has the ability to affect massive amounts of change, and I hope the issue of clean coal is one of them. If you have not yet discovered it, there is a coalition of many groups dedicated to fighting the misinformation about clean coal. www.powerpastcoal.com has launched a 100 Days of Action to Power Past Coal campaign, and its goal is to provide, through the website, the ability for community activists to add their local events and gather information about clean coal. Please check it out, and let’s make this a powerful campaign. In order to do that, we need all the assistance we can get.