Superhero Henry Waxman and coal-to-fuel
This entry was posted on 3/30/2008 11:55 PM and is filed under Coal,Elected representatives,Global Warming,Leadership.
Thank goodness. House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is taking a real stand against increasing greenhouse gas emissions (GGE's).
As described in an AP article on LiveScience.com - Air Force Prod Aids Coal-To-Fuel Plans - gasoline, diesel and jet fuel can be made from coal. The problem (from the article): "Without emissions controls, experts say coal-to-liquids plants could churn out double the greenhouse gases as oil."
The Air Force has an admirable goal: "...wean itself from foreign oil..." Unfortunately, our dependence on foreign energy is not our only huge energy-related problem - global warming is too. We need an energy policy that addresses both.
Excerpts from the article:
"The Air Force wants to build at its Malmstrom base in central Montana the first piece of what it hopes will be a nationwide network of facilities that would convert domestic coal into cleaner-burning synthetic fuel." 'We're going to be burning fossil fuels for a long time, and there's three times as much coal in the ground as there are oil reserves,' said Air Force Assistant Secretary William Anderson. 'Guess what? We're going to burn coal.'" (Neanderthal thinking in play)
"Tempering that vision, analysts say, is the astronomical cost of coal-to-liquids plants. Their high price tag, up to $5 billion apiece, would be hard to justify if oil prices were to drop." (Or, we could enact a tax shift to recognize the external costs of the GGE's and these plants would never make it off the drawing board because of poor return on investment.)
Enter Henry Waxman
"'We don't want new sources of energy that are going to make the greenhouse gas problem even worse,' said Henry Waxman in a recent interview."
"Coal producers have been unsuccessful in prior efforts to cultivate such a market. Climate change worries prompted Congress last year to turn back an attempt to mandate the use of coal-based synthetic fuels." (more Superheroes in Congress (!))
"In a recent letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Rep. Waxman wrote that a promise to control greenhouse gas emissions from synthetic fuels was not enough. Waxman and the committee's ranking Republican, Virginia's Tom Davis, cited a provision in the energy bill approved by Congress last year that bars federal agencies from entering contracts for synthetic fuels unless they emit the same or fewer greenhouse gases as petroleum."
"'They'd like to have (coal-to-liquids) because of security concerns — a reliable source of power. They're not thinking beyond that one issue,' Waxman said. '(Climate change) is also a national security concern.'" (my bold)
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By saying no, Chairman Waxman and others are taking an admirable, forward-thinking stand.
Even better will be including the EXTERNAL COSTS of turning coal into energy dense liquids. When we enact a tax shift....NO ONE will touch an investment in coal-to-liquid because of high operating costs thereby ensuring that this energy consuming technology will not see the light of day. A phased-in, federal tax shift from income to non-renewable energy is the best way to do this.
Additional benefits: we'll use less energy because of the increased cost and entire tiers of renewable energy projects will become economically viable creating GREEN JOBS in the U.S.
