The evidence suggests the climate is changing
But maybe you just don’t agree
With all those really smart people
Or you didn’t look at the data yourself
So let’s skip all the sciency stuff and get right to the
point
Pollution is bad
We should stop it as fast as we can
Blowing off mountaintops for coal
Doesn’t seem like a good idea at all.
Throwing trash into the sea.
Seems kind of dumb to me
You may think that climate change is just a hoax
Maybe it is, but I’ll tell you this folks
Pollution is bad
We should stop it as fast as we can.
Air Pollution:
It used to be ozone. The world did a good job of reducing that.
Now it's carbon dioxide
Smog
Acid rain (both air and water issue)
Land Pollution:
Water Pollution:
And then there's coal: it's air,water, land pollution all in one. Coal appears to have been a good energy source 200 years ago when that's all we had. But is it still?
"When coal mines move in, whole communities are forced off their land by expanding mines, coal fires, subsidence, and overused and contaminated water supplies. Mines are quick to dig up and destroy forests and soils. But once the coal is gone, the problems they leave behind, like acid mine drainage, can persist for decades." http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/climate-change/coal/Coal-mining-impacts/ Possibly this source is a bit biased.
Is coal worth it for the energy?
Maybe if we can't find a better way. Today, 540 coal plants exist in the United States, which are
responsible for roughly 45 percent of the electricity generated there. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2012/02/27/is-cleaning-coal-worth-it/#390114282f1d
The older, pulverized coal-fired facilities are the least
efficient ones with about 35 percent of the energy input converted to
electricity. If coal gasification is used, the efficiencies would reach as high
as 60 percent.
To make the new coal energy plants cleaner, the carbon
dioxide gets buried in the ground. Like putting my trash underneath the front
seat of my car.
During the Obama administration, $3.4 billion was put toward
clean coal technologies. I wish I had $3.40 to put those hamburger wrappers
under my car seat.$3.4 BILLION DOLLARS TO PUT CARBON DIOXIDE INTO THE GROUND! Imagine that money put towards clean energy.
According to the Congressional Research Service, coal is
responsible for about a third of all carbon dioxide emissions. It also releases
double the pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act when compared to
natural gas.
The AEI (another questionable source) says "It takes 79 solar workers to produce same amount of electric
power as one coal worker."Last year, the solar industry employed many more Americans
[373,807] than coal [160,119], while wind power topped 100,000 jobs.” Those
energy employment figures are based on a Department of Energy report (“U.S.
Energy and Employment Report“)" http://www.aei.org/publication/inconvenient-energy-fact-it-takes-79-solar-workers-to-produce-same-amount-of-electric-power-as-one-coal-worker/ These numbers seem a bit strange to me.
Does coal sequestration do anything?
Yes, it hides the carbon dioxide in the ground. Does it get rid of carbon dioxide? No. It just puts it in the ground. Hide the dirty stuff under the ground where no one will see it. Err...not a good solution.
Is coal worth it because of the jobs?
Love this "The entire coal industry employs fewer people than Arby’s." The
coal industry employed 76,572 people in 2014, the latest year for which data is
available. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/31/8-surprisingly-small-industries-that-employ-more-people-than-coal/?utm_term=.67b7c8b929f1 So no.Based the AEI report, if we want to create jobs, we want solar and wind.
And nuclear? Maybe there's a lot of power, but creating radioactive waste to get that power seems like a lousy deal. So far, the evidence suggests that humans aren't capable of using it safely.
Maybe there is climate change, maybe there isn't. Maybe 300 years ago it was just as warm. Maybe it's because the thermometers are reading incorrectly. Does it matter?
How can anyone think that it is okay to continue to pour exhaust from our cars, businesses, homes? Just put everything we can into stopping it as fast as we can. As a species, we are smart (individually is a different story). Other solutions are out there for ALL of our Issues.
And this statistic is staggering if even half true. (is it?) Just 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988. Almost 1 trillion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. 100 companies!
Solar
This link is going to come out solar, but it certainly makes a good case for solar...and natural gas. Maybe I'm biased against big holes in the ground and smog in the air. https://understandsolar.com/solar-energy-vs-coal/.
Natural gas plants are about 1/3rd the cost of a 500 MW solar plant and 1/6th the cost of a new coal plant.
No matter how you cut it. Coal should be out.
Wind
Wave/Water
Geothermal
Biochemical
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