Dem “it” guy Barack Obama is pro clean coal, and environmentalists are in a tizzy, we learned from a Washington Post piece yesterday. Obama’s reasons, according to the piece:

It seems the answer is twofold: his interest in energy independence -- and his interest in downstate Illinois, where the senator's green tinge makes the coal industry queasy.

While we don’t like the idea of Obama kowtowing to the coal industry, we here at Plenty recognize that the coal debate is a multi-faceted one. The environmentalists that point out that clean coal is a misnomer are correct: coal is going to be a little dirty, no matter what you do to it.

But the reality of the situation is complicated. The likelihood that the U.S. is going to abandon coal entirely within the next few years is pretty slim, and the chances of the rest of the world, particularly India and China, dropping coal…well, like a hot coal…is even slimmer.

Technology that makes coal cleaner isn’t the ultimate solution—that’s for sure. But if we can find a cheap, easy way to make coal less dirty while we refine technology for clean and renewable fuels—well, that strikes us as better than sitting around doing nothing.

Posted by Kiera Butler on Jan 11, 2007 at 2:34 PM
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