Obama, Salazar Encourage Coal Burning

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Friday May 13, 2011 · 7:23 AM PDT

2011/05/13 · 07:23

The burning of coal for electricity production is the number one human contributor to global warming. The Obama administration is encouraging more global coal burning by their support for coal exports to Asia, primarily China and India.

President Obama and Secretary Salazar obviously know that the increased burning of coal is detrimental to the goal of reducing carbon emissions. A rational person could question the administration's commitment to reducing Global Warming, as this promotion of US coal exports is counter-productive to that goal.

End use of coal:

There is the myth of clean coal. It's like saying "healthy cigarettes", there really is no such animal.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/...

Dirty Business, the new documentary from the Centre for Investigative Journalism, began its nationwide screening tour last night in Berkeley, California, with the aim of debunking the myth of "clean coal" and kick-starting a debate on the future of energy in the US.

The PR offensive for "clean coal" is well funded.

Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch , estimates that the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) spent between $30-$40m in 2008 on PR promoting "clean coal".

"The cleaner the power stations get, the dirtier it gets here"

The film brings out the heroes (Jim Hansen) and villains (Myron Ebell) of the coal debate. But perhaps the most moving contribution comes from Maria Gunnoe, who was awarded the Goldman environmental activism prize in 2009 for opposing mountaintop mining near her home in the Appalachian mountains.
"The cleaner the power stations get, the dirtier it gets here," she says, looking into a pond of toxic coal sludge. "We're losing our rights to our health, life and future of our children. There is no such thing as clean coal whatever comes out of the stacks."

Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, recently announced plans to auction off 758 million tons of coal in Wyoming over the next few months. Much of this is in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.
This announcement is in concert with plans for a new mega terminal for coal exporting in Washington .

http://climateprogress.org/...

This decision certainly eviscerates Salazar’s green street cred that he had developed by aggressively pushing renewable energy on public lands. It fits into an emerging pattern with offshore drilling and the continued embrace of uber-expensive nuclear power and the abandonment of any effort to pass serious climate legislation that suggests perhaps Obama really doesn’t get it at all. If so, it’s time for people like science advisor John Holdren to contemplate resigning and moving on to a job where he can do more good — like leading a national effort of scientists to inform the public about the extreme dangers of burning all that coal.

The new mega terminal would require 1,100 acres, nearly two square miles.

http://trib.com/...

Bob Ferris, executive director of RE Sources for Sustainable Communities, and others raised questions about local health and environmental impacts, train traffic and contamination from coal dust.
“Building a coal export terminal in Washington represents a step in the wrong direction,” said Ferris. “What century are we in if our economic future is pinned on the hopes of shoveling coal? There is a better path for Bellingham — and Washington.”
Peabody Energy has completed a deal to ship Powder River Basin coal to Asia via a planned export terminal in northwest Washington.
The deal with Seattle-based SSA Marine will allow St. Louis-based Peabody to ship up to 24 million metric tons of coal per year via the Gateway Pacific Terminal near Ferndale, Wash.
The port would be Peabody’s West Coast hub for exporting Powder River Basin coal to Asian markets, Peabody said in a media release Monday.

Plains Justice

Carrie La Seur is president of Plains Justice and lives on the margin of the Powder River Basin.

Carrie La Seur, Ph.D., J.D. (Billings, MT): Founder and President
A seventh-generation descendant of Montana homesteaders, Carrie is an energy and environmental lawyer.