Nov. 3, 2008
Obama’s 'Clean' Coal Pursuit Would Enhance Value of Low Sulphur Coal
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – As decision day comes in less than 24 hours, Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin told a rally in Marietta, Ohio, Nov. 2, that Obama would bankrupt the coal industry. Palin relied on the audio tape and transcript from a January 17, 2008 interview conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle.
However, according to a WV coal company executive, the Obama plan would be a boon for coal production from West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. Unlike, for instance, Illinois coal, the mines in West Virginia already provide low sulphur coal to power plants.
The tape originated from an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle on January 17, 2008. However, in the published story, January 18, 2008, the content of the tape was NOT put in print. While the portion of the tape widely available on the internet calls for taxing polluters based on the amount of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted, a transcript of the remaining portion of the tape, Obama himself , says “I’m not a coal booster,” but would pursue its use “in a clean way.”
Democrats have cried “out of context” regarding the interview; however, a verbatim transcript obtained by ABC NEWS indicates that the Presidential candidate stressed that unless technology can “sequester that carbon and capture it… we’re gonna still be working on alternatives.”
But Obama’s statement in context would allow coal that when burned gives off low emissions of carbon. That, according to a mine executive, is what we have in West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. So, if Obama implemented a plan that transitions from old coal burning to new coal burning technologies, the decision would help, not hurt, WV miners.
Thus, the audio portion of the interview that states a bankrupting of coal companies would not implicate prediction here in Almost Heaven. The power plants and other industry charged based on pollution emissions of carbon or greenhouse gases would be burning minerals from outside of the WV/KY fields.
Actually, by analyzing the full transcript of his remarks, the candidate acknowledged that we can not live without coal. He added, “we have to figure out how we can use coal without emitting greenhouse gases and carbon…”
If as he stated “clean air is critical and global warming is critical,” the resulting cleaner coal will be coming from our own backyard.
Interestingly, Republican Candidate John McCain told a University of Scranton (Pennsylvania) audience that he has been a “coal booster” and “we are going to export coal to other countries and we are going to create thousands of jobs.” While McCain stated such actions would help “restore the economy” of Pennsylvania, environmental advocates have cried flip-flop. They indicate that the Arizona senator had been speaking frequently about his climate change concerns.
Based on the responses, McCain would appear to have shifted his viewpoint on coal, as he did on drilling for oil, and supports the export of global warming fuel, according to Dan Weiss, of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.” Yet, despite his coal cheerleading, McCain’s statement about coal exports is not a future plan or promise; it is already happening.
The full written transcript of that portion of the interview which is repeated below:
VERBATIM TRANSCRIPT
“I voted against the Clear Skies Bill. In fact, I was the deciding vote -- despite the fact that I’m a coal state and that half my state thought that I had thoroughly betrayed them. Because I think clean air is critical and global warming is critical.
“But this notion of no coal, I think, is an illusion. Because the fact of the matter is, is that right now we are getting a lot of our energy from coal. And China is building a coal-powered plant once a week. So what we have to do then is figure out how can we use coal without emitting greenhouse gases and carbon. And how can we sequester that carbon and capture it. If we can’t, then we’re gonna still be working on alternatives.
“But ... let me sort of describe my overall policy. What I’ve said is that we would put a cap and trade policy in place that is as aggressive if not more aggressive than anyone out there. I was the first call for 100 percent auction on the cap and trade system. Which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases that was emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants are being built, they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted-down caps that are imposed every year.
“So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted. That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in solar, wind, biodiesel, and other alternative energy approaches. The only thing that I’ve said with respect to coal -- I haven’t been some coal booster. What I have said is that for us to take coal off the table as an ideological matter, as opposed to saying if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should."
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