'CLEAN' COAL EUPHEMISM

Note to VP debaters: There's no such thing as 'clean' coal. It could be called 'somewhat less deadly coal. . .'

Here are the top five 'clean' coal myths from coal is dirty:

1. America has more than 200 years of available coal reserves. The US is the Saudi Arabia of coal. (We've already peaked.)
   
2. We can capture carbon emissions from coal ( Carbon Capture and Sequestration) and bury them underground.
   
3. Since 1970, emissions from coal power plants are down 35 percent (correct), the air is cleaner and yet coal use has tripled during that period. (total pollution from coal plants has increased.)
   
4. There's more mercury from 'natural sources' than the coal industry released, so there's no reason to focus on reducing coal-related mercury emissions. (mercury exists in buried soils, however mercury levels in fish and humans have risen sharply in the past 200 years.)
5. Coal mining creates jobs. (Coal mining employment has been declining for decades, as people are replace by machinery.)
   

Posted in: clean coal,VP debates