Clean Coal Technology

"Clean coal"?

Have you heard about the new “clean coal technology?”  I have.  And I wondered what it was all about.  After all, we know that burning coal releases atmosphere-clogging CO2. Nearly 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the world are attributed to burning coal.

What can be clean about coal?  Miners regularly die from black lung disease from working in the field.  Thousands have been killed from mine collapses in recent years.  Clean coal technology?  Really?  Mercury doesn’t sound clean to me.  Strip mines don’t look clean to me.

Still, politicians on both sides of the spectrum have been pushing for clean coal recently.  But why not renewable energy sources like solar, wind or wave instead?  Why would we continue down this dirty path of coal mining and burning?

Fortunately, this new commercial answers all of my questions about clean coal technology:

Yep - they're clean alright!

The Washington Post has said with respect to clean coal technology, “Clean Coal – Don’t Try to Shovel That.”  Personally, I would like to shovel the idea of “clean coal” into the ridiculous ideas bin where it belongs.

Truly clean energy comes from renewable resources – not coal.  No matter how much of the emissions the industry says it can “capture”, the reality is that coal must still be mined – which itself has a huge negative impact on the environment and human health.  Not to mention the hugely obvious question… where do the harmful CO2 and mercury emissions go once they are “captured?”

Its time to leave the idea of clean coal technology in the dirty past, don’t you think?