Dear MoveOn member,
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Clicking here will add your name: |
In the next few weeks, Congress could vote to DOUBLE the amount of greenhouse gases America produces from our cars and planes.1
It's the greatest single threat to solving the climate crisis in a decade.
It sounds crazy. But Congress is rushing through a package that could lock us into liquid coal as our country's new energy source for transportation. For every mile driven, coal-based fuels produce as much as twice as many greenhouse gases as petroleum.2 That means even a Prius would drive like a Hummer.
The coal industry has been lobbying for this break for years, and many in Congress don't understand the facts. Can you sign on to our petition opposing liquid coal right now—and then please alert your friends?
"Liquid coal would be a disaster in our fight against the climate crisis. Congress should vote against tax breaks and subsidies for coal."
Clicking here adds your name to the petition: The legislation would take billions in taxpayer dollars to build up to 10 more dirty coal plants, provide taxpayer subsidies when the fuel can't compete on the open market, and guarantee that the government will buy this fuel no matter what.3The industry promises to clean up after itself, but "clean coal" doesn't exist yet—it's pure fiction. While some technology is being tested to capture the greenhouse gas before it goes into the air, no one knows if it will work. But the plants will be built regardless.
To make matters worse, the financial outlook on this technology is shaky, which means taxpayers could be left holding the bag. According to an MIT study, we could spend $70 billion to replace just 10 percent of current gasoline use.4 And by the time we bring the technology to market, it is likely that cheaper, cleaner fuels will be available for less money.
These snake oil salesmen are in the Capitol in force—selling Congress a line that kicking our oil habit is easy if we just commit billions in taxpayer money to coal. And some in Congress are buying it—even folks who have been with us thus far on the climate crisis. But with this bill, they're gambling with the future of our planet.
Can you sign our petition telling Congress to vote no on coal in the upcoming energy package?
Clicking here will add your name:
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has this to say about the proposal:
The coal industry is touting a plan to transform millions of tons of coal into diesel and other liquid fuels—an expensive, inefficient process that releases large quantities of heat-trapping carbon dioxide into our air. Fortunately, better, cleaner options exist to reduce America's dependence on oil: efficiency, smart growth, and renewable fuels.5
An OpEd in the Lexington Herald-Leader, in the heart of coal country, put it this way:
We need less coal, not more. And we need government support to go toward developing the commercial scale technology for truly clean alternatives—solar and wind. These energy sources are clean and abundant, and these industries create jobs and can be a boon to the economy.
Please help make sure Congress doesn't take us backward in our fight against global warming. Clicking below adds your name:
Thanks for all you do,
–Ilyse, Mari, Jennifer, Matt and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Wednesday, June 6th, 2007
Sources:
1. "Lawmakers look at coal to break oil dependence",
Los Angeles Times, May 10, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-coal10may10,0,7769228,full.story?coll=la-home-center
2. "Coal-To-Liquid Fuel Plant Plan Advances",
The Houston Chronicle, May 31, 2007
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4851715.html
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2644&id=10484-2928552-a5KP_1&t=6
3. " Billion-dollar boondoggle," The Roanoke
Time, June 5, 2007
http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/wb/xp-119477
4. "Why Liquid Coal Is Not a Viable Option to Move America Beyond Oil,"
Report by Natural Resources Defense Council, February, 2007
http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/coal/liquids.pdf
5. ""Liquid coal a new version of snake oil"
The Lexington Herald-Leader, June 3, 2007
http://www.kentucky.com/591/story/87181.html
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