You know the answer to this question. You can’t get any clean coal for $6.8 billion, because, of course, there is no such thing.
Tell that to Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who bragged yesterday about the $4.4 billion the senate’s version of the stimulus bill, up from $2.4 billion in the House version, gives to clean coal technology. That $4.4 billion won’t buy any clean coal, just like the $2.2 billion in the bank bailout couldn’t buy any clean coal.
You can send Byrd an email here or give his office a call at 202-224-3954. Better yet, come to Power Shift at the end of this month and pay him and your own legislators a visit on the March 2nd Power Shift lobby day. If you aren’t the lobbying type, be a part of the Capitol Climate Action at the coal plant that (yes, literally) powers Congress. After your visit to DC, get moving on a Focus the Nation Town Hall on Energy in your home town or on campus in April to bring the whole community and your local leaders into the discussion with federal reps.
Legislators need to know that Americans aren’t fooled by the clean coal mythology. Many of them, it would seem, still are. Byrd isn’t alone in the Senate in his quest for the elusive holy grail of the coal industry. Byrd and many other members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle and in both houses, are convinced that coal has a role to play in the new energy economy.
“Clean, carbon-neutral coal can be a ‘green’ energy,” Byrd said. “As Congress strives to develop a national energy policy that will break our dependence on foreign oil, it is crucial to ensure that coal, burned in cleaner more efficient ways, is part of our nation’s diverse energy mix for the future. These investments will help to bolster West Virginia’s economic future.”
Any good economist or scientist can tell you that coal is bad for the long-term economic future of West Virginia, America and the planet. To paraphrase Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman’s closing remarks after a lecture on the global economy last night in Portland, Oregon, “Nothing we can do to fix the economy is relevant in the long-run if we don’t address climate change – a good economy isn’t worth much if you don’t have a planet to live on.”
Alex writes: “If you aren’t the lobbying type, be a part of the Capitol Climate Action at the coal plant that (yes, literally) powers Congress.”
No reason you can’t do both, of course. I’m pretty certain the Capitol Coal Action will be later in the day, allowing people to participate in both types of action. After all, that’s when we’re most effective, right?