POLITICS Olduvai revisited

[Guest guest]

OK, those of you worried about us going back to the stone

ages for lack of electricity ... if you don't care about air

quality, just burn coal -- we got enough for the next 250 years?

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0226/p01s04-sten.html

From the point of view of energy security, such moves make sense, proponents

say. The US is considered the Saudi Arabia of coal. It sits on 250 years' worth

of reserves. Coal already generates about half the nation's electricity.

The economics have also swung in the fuel's favor. Low-cost, low-emission,

natural-gas turbines sprouted like mushrooms in the '90s and their contribution

to the nation's generating capacity reached 19 percent. But in the past four

years, the cost of natural gas has roughly tripled: from $2 per 1 million

British thermal units of heat generated to over $6 per million BTUs. By

contrast, coal costs less than $1 per million BTUs. That has put utilities in

the position of paying more for the gas they burn to make power than they can

get for the electricity it produces.

-- Heidi JEan

[Guest guest]

Coal burning cars?

More mercury pollution with coal means more neurological problems in the

population I would suspect. Are you familiar with the (hair strand analysis

I think) research that demonstrates autistic children may not excrete

mercury as well as the general population? The whole idea that mercury

might be a trigger is quite controversial now. Thimerosal in vaccines being

the suspected culprit. The MMR shot triggered it for my son I do believe.

Deanna

The economics have also swung in the fuel's favor. Low-cost, low-emission,

natural-gas turbines sprouted like mushrooms in the '90s and their

contribution to the nation's generating capacity reached 19 percent.

[Guest guest]

>Coal burning cars?

>

>More mercury pollution with coal means more neurological problems in the

>population I would suspect. Are you familiar with the (hair strand analysis

>I think) research that demonstrates autistic children may not excrete

>mercury as well as the general population? The whole idea that mercury

>might be a trigger is quite controversial now. Thimerosal in vaccines being

>the suspected culprit. The MMR shot triggered it for my son I do believe.

>

>Deanna

Well, I " m certainly not in FAVOR of coal-burning power plants. Though they can

be a lot cleaner than they have been. It's just that the " end of the world as we

know it " scenarios leave out a lot of possibilities.

Cars can run on lots of other things besides gas (and in Europe not everyone

owns one anyway ... our lifestyle is a strange one). Actually I think carrying

around a lot of volitile, toxic fuel in a tank at 70 mph is less than ideal

anyway.

-- Heidi Jean