Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Barack Obama Supports Coal Liquefaction

According to The Washington Post, "The coal industry praises Obama's reintroduction, with Sen Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), of the Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2007 last week, which would provide incentives for research and plant construction. The industry says the technology, which converts coal into diesel engine fuel, would reduce America's dependence on foreign oil through a new, home-mined fuel that burns as cleanly as gasoline."

Traditional environmentalists will scream at the 'Rock Star' senator now because he is not pure. They will not scream too loudly though because of Senator Obama's current popularity and his commitment to a clean environment in general. We are sure Senator Obama will support an equivalent carbon dioxide offset strategy and AAEA would be happy to advise him on his choices. Senator Obama is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is, and has been for decades, the highest ranked caucus in Congress on environmental issues. The CBC does not get much credit for this in the mainstream media, even though most of the caucus is liberal and composed totally of Democrats.

The fact of the matter is that the U.S. is the 'Saudi Arabia' of coal and we will produce transportation fuel from coal and oil shale. We will use biofuels, ethanol, methanol and hydrogen too. We need a mix of fuels to reduce our dependence on imported oil from hostile countries. Some of these countries will probably use our oil money to attack us. Keep on rocking Mr. Rock Star. (Hat Tip: We Support Lee)

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