Featuring misleading claims about pollution from coal-fired electrical generating plants, and a CleanSkyCoalition.com Web site, it urged citizens to tell government officials, “No more filthy coal plants.“
But the coalition wasn’t another gaggle of environmental pressure groups, like those listed on the Web site. It was a cabal of natural gas companies, led by Chesapeake Energy of Oklahoma. Their goal wasn’t really helping Americans get “clean skies“ and “live longer.“ It was fattening corporate wallets.
The cabal hoped new laws would make it harder to build more coal plants or retrofit old ones to meet tougher air quality standards. Utilities would have to switch to natural gas, supplies would tighten, prices would surge, and coalition partners would get rich.
Every US$1 increase in natural gas prices costs US consumers another US$22-billion a year for heating, air conditioning, food, consumer goods and services --many of which use gas for energy or raw materials--says the US Energy Information Administration. Indeed, consumers paid US$140- billion more in 2006 for gas and electricity than they did in 2000--an extra US$1,900 a year for every family of four.
That hit poor families especially hard, and the
Geologists say the US Outer Continental Shelf could contain 420 Tcf--enough to meet current
Electricity provides 40% of the energy the
The ads and environmental group Web sites say coal-fired power plants are responsible for scary-sounding portions of total
Between 1970 and 2004, the
Coal-fired power plants are now the primary source of US mercury emissions, not because their emissions are large or increasing, but because the real sources (incinerating wastes and processing ores containing mercury) have been eliminated.
Total air pollution is now so low that it poses no significant health risks, even for children. (Asthma rates have been rising as air pollution was falling, so air pollution cannot be a factor.) Moreover, coal-generated electricity costs much less per kilowatt-hour than alternatives--leaving families with more money to spend on nutrition and health care.
PIN/ CANADA.COM
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