Gore coal pledge "short-sighted": union - Reuters

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Gore coal pledge "short-sighted": union
Mon Jul 9, 2007 7:39PM EDT

By Steve James

NEW YORK (Reuters) - America's main coal mining union said on
Monday former Vice President Al Gore's Live Earth concert pledge
to fight for a ban on new coal-fired power plants was "short-
sighted."

And the main trade group of mine operators backed the union,
saying it was premature to call for an end to coal-fired electricity
generation when the technology to reduce greenhouse gases is
still being developed.

Gore urged fans at the concerts held around the world on July 7
to commit to a seven-point pledge to cut carbon emissions and to
lobby governments and employers to do more to save the planet.

The third point on the pledge states: "To fight for a moratorium
on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal
without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2."

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN0924442620070709

[Cooley Hurd]

1. "...without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2."

That's pretty straight-forward. Once the technology is perfected to do just that (I have no idea where exactly they are in doing that), I could get behind "clean coal."

[phantom power]

2. Nobody is going to perfect CO2 sequestration for fossil plants.

It simply isn't going to happen.

[Cooley Hurd]

3. Then it's a non-starter...

:thumbsdown: to coal until that happens, if ever.

[The2ndWheel]

4. Nothing is going to be perfect

It all comes down to a question of how far you're willing to go in any direction, and the risk you're willing to take with the resulting consequences, be they unintended or not. It doesn't matter what we end up doing, there will be both an upside and downside to whatever choice we make. As an example, if we want instant global communication, then you're also going to get outsourcing. We're not getting the cake, eating said cake, throwing up that very cake, repacking it, and then selling it at 10x the value. Even if you could do that, the guy who just bought it is then screwed.

There is no such thing as perfection, and the pursuit of it will drive us all crazy.

[greenman3610]

5. The intergovernmental panel on Climate change

as well as Al Gore, (who has been
right about a lot of things)
say that the technology exists to successfully
sequester carbon.

there should be no fossil fuel
plants built that do not have this
capability - but no company will
take on the expense unless we
have a national cap and trade law
or carbon tax.