1. Coal still accounts for 52% of all American electricity consumption. Americans still burn 1 Billion tons of coal per year. The average American household uses 9.5 tons of coal per year for energy. About half of all the trains on American railways at any given time are carrying coal. Most Americans don’t know that coal is still being used because it is burned far away from residential areas. The truth is that we are still overly dependent on coal power.

2. Clean Coal is a myth perpetuated by the Coal industry. In actuality, it is not scientifically or economically feasible. In the summer of 2007, America’s coal companies, railroads, and utilities, launched a major advertising campaign promoting the concept of clean coal. Clean Coal uses a process called the Integrated Gas Combined Cycle (IGCC) to “capture” the CO2 from coal and turn it into a cleaner burning gas. The captured CO2 is then injected into water deep in the ground. The reality is that this technology is simply a ploy from the coal industry to perpetuate its own existence and maintain profit. The science of capturing CO2 from Coal is still only theoretical. Scientists are not even sure if injecting CO2 into the ground could ever be safe. It makes no sense to invest in the research and massive infrastructure for capturing CO2 when we could simply use renewable energy sources.

3. Both John McCain AND President-elect Obama have publicly come out in favor of Clean Coal. The arm of the coal lobby is so strong that neither candidate could speak against Clean Coal. Swing states like Indiana and Ohio are heavily dependent on coal and highly involved with the coal industry. If we don’t raise awareness on this issue, its going to go on unaddressed. Change has to occur from the goverment level on this issue. Hopefully Obama flip flops on this one.

To read more, try going here or here.

For more information on the shift towards ‘local’ consumption, check out localblu.com – our new blog covering the ‘local movement.’

–Rohit