Kerry Pledges $10 Bln to Clean Up Coal Power Plants

[Feanorcurufinwe]

U.S. Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry on Thursday pledged $10 billion over a decade to help U.S. electric utilities find cleaner ways to burn coal, the nation's most abundant energy source.

In a bid to lure votes from coal-producing states like West Virginia, Kerry said that if elected he would offer incentives, like research grants, to encourage utilities to build coal-fired plants that give off almost no pollutants.

"Coal is abundant, coal mining creates jobs and I believe that with the right investment and commitment coal can be an even cleaner part of America's energy future," Massachusetts senator Kerry said in a statement.

West Virginia's Democratic senators -- Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller -- endorsed Kerry's plan, as did unions representing utility employees and mine workers . Byrd also accused President George. W. Bush of ducking a campaign pledge to invest $2 billion in cleaner coal plants over a decade. That promise helped Bush secure West Virginia's electoral votes in the 2000 election.

The U.S. Energy Department did not return calls seeking comment on Kerry's proposal.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=6023437

[A_Possum]

1. Burning coal puts more radioactivity into atmosphere than nuclear plants

are allowed. This is one of those things that's crucial but of course too boring for the media when the smearboaters are spreading slander.

[gatorboy]

2. $10 Billion in a decade? That's nothing!

Bush's buddies lose that much change in a year:

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?&idq=/ff/story/0002/20040819/1513984860.htm&photoid=20040814WHT202D&floc=NW_1-T

[bigtree]

3. kick

[Feanorcurufinwe]

4. KING COAL REDUX

Soaring prices for natural gas have sparked renewed interest in "King Coal" as a source of electricity.

The United States is increasingly dependent on foreign countries like Saudi Arabia for its crude oil but holds about a quarter of the world's recoverable coal reserves.

At about 270 billion short tons, that's enough to last over two centuries at current production rates, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=6023437

Of course, the challenges are enormous, but considering coal is an energy source, my guess is most of it will eventually be burned. We need to start NOW to make are concerted effort to learn how to do so without poisoning ourselves.