"Clean" Coal

Being a supporter of President Obama and hearing him speak on the topic of clean coal technology was painful for me. I wasn't familiar with it, but I knew that no matter how "clean" it was it was still going to wreak some havoc on the environment. Shortly after the election I received an email from an online organization known as Reality. I had received it because I belonged to the We Campaign, which is working to spread the knowledge of global warming and what individuals can do to minimize their impact.

When I first went to see Reality's site, I had no idea what it was. It had a canary flying on screen and then it flew head first into some facts. It laid limp on the ground, but then I was able to click it again. I thought it was some kind of strange animal rights site. The canary repeatedly flew into fact after fact, each one poking holes in the "clean" coal that had now gained momentum thanks to Obama's victory.

Since then I've also seen their television commercial. I'm sure you've seen it too. A guy in a hard hat is about to take you on a tour of a "clean" coal plant. He opens a door, and there's nothing on the other side. He pretends he's inside a plant by yelling over the machines that would be running if a clean coal plant actually existed. I didn't quite get it at first, due to the fact that I hadn't heard what he was giving a tour of. Not sure how many folks thought the same thing.

A few weeks ago, a small area of Tennessee was polluted with tons of coal ash. I had never heard of coal ash before. I never gave any thought to what other byproducts coal burning had, other than the thick plumes of smoke I'd seen from smoke stacks. As a kid I thought of them as cigarettes that the earth was smoking. If you see one, tilt your head to the side and tell me you don't see the same thing. This toxic sludge has destroyed many homes and contaminated the soil and surrounding water supplies. Just take a look at the damage and the area it's engulfed:


I'm hoping that with the evidence that this disaster brings to light, that President Obama will change his stance and switch to renewable sources of energy as his goal for the future. I ask you all to take a look at Reality and pass it along if you know others who would be interested in joining the cause, even if it's not something you wish to get involved in.