Liquid coal

The idea of turning coal into liquid to fill our gas tanks should just be a bad joke. But because the coal industry pours millions into lobbying Congress every year, this joke could turn into a real nightmare.

The senate is about to vote on a big bill dealing with energy and the climate crisis. Massive subsidies for coal were defeated in committee. But we're not out of the woods yet, since one of the coal-friendly senators could sneak them back in again as an amendment just before the final vote.

Liquid coal is a giant step backward in our fight against global warming—it produces twice as many greenhouse gases as conventional gasoline. Proposals to capture that pollution before it adds to global warming are still a pipe dream.

We have to reduce the greenhouse gases already in our air to stave off the worst effects of climate change—disease, drought, rising seas—so you'd think a giant program to make liquid coal a cornerstone of our economy would be too outrageous to consider. But continued pressure from the coal industry means key legislators introduce it over and over again.

Even the Roanoke Times, in the heart of coal country, condemned government promotion of liquid coal:

Coal-to-liquid technology is expensive, harmful to the environment and inefficient. The federal government should take no part in subsidizing it ... Liquefying coal is not the answer to either energy independence or a cleaner environment.
Some senators are standing strong against this false promise—Jon Tester from coal-rich Montana has said there should be no liquid coal without proven ways to capture the greenhouse gases.

But others are risking our future with dirty energy bills instead of supporting clean and affordable alternatives—like solar and wind.

Read more about it:
"Lawmakers Push for Big Subsidies for Coal Process," New York Times, May 29, 2007

"Wrong path toward energy independence," Denver Post, June 9, 2007

"Billion Dollar Boondoggle," Roanoke Times, June 5 2007

"Tester: Offer incentives for carbon capture," Missoulian, June 2, 2007