The ghost of coal grows and grows….
If growth in carbon dioxide emissions is to be constrained and even reversed then the world cannot afford a coal renaissance, scientists have said. Some commentators have argued that falling reserves of oil and gas will automatically limit CO2’s rise. But at an American Geophysical Union meeting, researchers said reserves of coal dwarfed those of other fuels. It was even possible oil’s demise could trigger an acceleration in emissions through more coal use, they added. “We can replace oil with liquid fuels derived from coal,” said Ken Caldeira from the Carnegie Institution at Stanford University in California.
“But these liquid fuels emit even more carbon dioxide than oil, so the end of oil can mean an increase in coal and even more carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, and even more rapid onset of dangerous climate change.”
As Mike Davis said in a lecture recently delivered at the UW, and is available for free on iTunes (it is part of the Solomon Katz lecture series), “the 19th century has returned to haunt us.”
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Get a control on the Earth’s over-population and you’ve got all the other problems under control. If there weren’t twice as many people as the Earth can support, there would be no greenhouse gases or global warming and shortages of essential things like oil, petrol and food. Why does no one dare speak of this prime example of that “800 pound gorilla” or “elephant in the room”?
I live in the state that produces the most coal, and while I’m convinced it’s a bad product, it’s going to be next to impossible to convince my legislators and fellow citizens. After all, there’s no other industry here, we’re one of or the only state with a huge surplus, and folks vote for their short-term interests. It’s a weird position to be in when your job security (I work for a state university) depends on gas prices not falling.