After Gutenberg

Writing for The Charleston Gazette, Ken Ward Jr. reminds us that, just a few short breaths months ago, ‘our’ Congress critters included a $2.8 billion package for the coal industry when the massive Wall Street bailout was passed.

“And now?”

“Coal company officials and their supporters in Congress are working to increase the industry's already large chunk of the economic stimulus package.”

The continued poisoning of “life on the planet as we know it” is happening under the guise of clean coal. The deception is so apparent even the Gray Lady had something to say about it:

Coal is certainly an important fuel, providing just over half of the nation’s electricity. And progress has been made: new coal-fired plants are cleaner than old ones, and older plants that have been required under the Clean Air Act to install pollution controls are cleaner than the many plants that have managed to escape the law’s reach.

But coal remains an inherently dirty fuel, and a huge contributor to not only ground-level pollution — including acid rain and smog — but also global warming. The sooner the country understands that, the closer it will be to mitigating the damage.

Another false impression with the term “clean coal” is that coal could be more environmentally friendly, whereas the truth is that even if carbon capture and storage were implemented, it fails to address water quality or other environmental quality issues.

So, this will be a true test of the public trust for the new administration with its advocacy for transparency.

Lawmakers in the House set aside $2.4 billion in their current version of the legislation for research into capturing greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Democratic leaders in the House Committee on Commerce and Energy defeated Republican efforts to also make coal eligible for a loan guarantee program for renewable energy projects.

In the Senate, Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., was lobbying fellow lawmakers and President Obama behind the scenes to try to get more money for what supporters call “clean coal” programs.

“He wants it as big as possible,” said Jamie Smith, Rockefeller's communications director. “He's going to just keep working for more and more and more money for this.”

On Friday, lawmakers and Senate staff members were negotiating their version of a stimulus package, a measure intended to help boost the sagging economy across the country.

If Rockefeller succeeds, it won't be the first time that he helped guide money intended for economic recovery efforts to the coal industry.

Senator Boxer wants more done about coal ash. I would repeat the call, under the existing Clean Air Act, for a federal mandate that requires all utilities to report total carbon emissions produced.