Coal Is To Clean As Astroturf Is To Grass

Over the past few months, a new phrase has entered the English language, "clean coal."

Ol' GW mentioned "clean coal" in his most recent State of the Union Address. In a recent speech, Hillary Clinton stated that future energy generation should come from "clean coal and renewables." Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister of Australia, has used "clean coal" as a way to "marry his green credentials with his concern for jobs."

With all this talk and publicity, "clean coal" must really be something great, right? It must be the energy source that will save us from global warming. It must be our future.

Well, that is what the coal industry would like you to believe.

"Clean coal" is actually the linchpin of a well orchestrated and well funded public relations campaign sponsored by the coal industry.

In 2000, the coal industry formed a group called Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC). This group's mission is to develop "astroturf" support for mining companies, coal transporters, and coal-based electricity producers. If you are unfamiliar with "astroturfing," it is a widespread public relations practice primarily used by politicians and corporations in which a seemingly "independent" front group is formed to create the appearance of a spontaneous, grassroots citizen action. The group is to real grassroots activism as "astroturf" is to real grass.

In 2001, ABEC ran one television advertisement promoting "clean coal" over 900 times in the Washington, D.C. market. In 2002, ABEC sponsored three television advertisements in that same market which ran over 800 times. Also in 2002, ABEC underwrote a program on National Public Radio (NPR) that promoted coal as America's future.

Recently, ABEC has increased their public relations budget from $8 million in 2007 to $30 million in 2008.

In 2007, ABEC sponsored the CNN/YouTube Republican Presidential Debate. In 2008, ABEC sponsored the CNN Republican AND Democratic Presidential Debates. As of January 2008, ABEC had spent over $1.3 million on "clean coal" advertisements in Iowa, Nevada, and South Carolina. During a 2008 Democratic Presidential Debate in Nevada, ABEC paid 50 people to walk around around as "human billboards" and hand out "leaflets ... with questions for voters to ask the candidates."

So, with all of this "astroturf," where can we find some real grass?

Well, the facts on coal-based energy prove that there is no such thing as "clean coal."

Coal-fired power plants account for 59% of the total sulfur dioxide pollution in the United States, 18% of the total nitrogen oxide pollution, 40% of the carbon dioxide pollution, and 50% of the total particulate pollution.

Coal-fired plants are the largest source of toxic mercury pollution and the largest contributor of hazardous air toxics.

If these just sound like numbers to you, here is how these toxic pollutants affect your health:

• Sulfur Dioxide (SO2): Gas emitted through burning coal and oil, that converts into acid gases (sulfuric acid) and sulfur particulate matter (pm). Health effects include: airway irritation, heart rhythm destabilization, and asthma attacks.
• Nitrogen Oxide (NOx): General term for NO/O2 hazes formed from burning coal, oil, natural gas, and gasoline. It is a main ingredient in acid rain and ozone smog.
• Carbon Dioxide (CO2): Gas layer that blankets the planet and traps heat in the lower atmosphere. Global warming affects every ecosystem on the planet with drastic health, environmental, humanitarian, and economic consequences.
• Particulate Matter (PM): Soil, soot, SO2, and NOx particles from power plants, cars, and factories that are tiny enough to penetrate indoor spaces and deep into the lungs. They can trigger premature death from heart attacks, lung diseases, and cancer in adults; and stunted lung growth, low birth weight, neurological impairment, and SIDS in children.
• Mercury (Hg): Toxic metal particles settle in water, contaminate fish, and move up the food chain. Mercury ingestion can result in premature birth, low birth weight, structural defects, learning disorders, heart and neurological defects.
  

The National Park Service (NPS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and several other federal agencies recently released the results of a six year study focused on pollution in our most pristine lands, our national parks. The study found a significant correlation between the presence of mercury and the location of national parks located downwind from coal-based power plants. The mercury levels of some fish in supposedly "pristine" waters were so high as to pose a health risk to eat. And, keep in mind that this study was conducted on lands that we consider "clean" and "untouched."

In the American Southeast, where we live, over 60% of our power is provided by coal-based power plants. These plants dump 30,000 pounds of toxic mercury into our air and water annually. They are also the single largest source of carbon dioxide pollution with over 590 million tons emitted annually.

In 1997 in our home state of Tennessee, an estimated 1,440 deaths, 910 hospitalizations, and 27,100 asthma attacks were attributed to power plant pollution. Overall, Tennessee ranks as the third highest state for toxins released into the air.

And, these are just the direct impacts of coal-based power plants.

We haven't even started to talk about the negative health, environmental, and human impacts of the immoral coal extraction process known as "mountaintop removal."

Please recognize that "clean coal" is an outright lie. It is a fabrication created by the coal industry. They have the money to make it look green and clean, but, on closer inspection, you will find that it is all just "astroturf." In the case of "clean coal," the grass truly is greener on the other side of the fence.

So, stay informed and stay on the real grass. Tell Congress to place a moratorium on all new coal-based power plants. And, let's shut down the ones that continue to endanger our health and our environment.

If we do not succumb to the propaganda of the coal industry, we can invest in a cleaner and healthier future for ourselves and our children. It is estimated that 69% of electricity needs in the United States could be met with solar by 2050 and we could be a completely solar nation by 2100.

We already have real "clean" technologies available. Let's use them.

(Cross posted at Life has taught us ...)