Slightly Off Topic - but just... Addressing Clean Air, Clean Jobs Bill (CO)

Proponents say the bill will require Xcel to close coal-fired power plants and replace them with those fueled by clean-burning natural gas.  However, what they did not mention is that Xcel was already planning to decommission one of these plants, so Xcel can now phase out three of their plants and hand off the cost to consumers.

 

The U.S. has more coal than any other nation on Earth. We have hundreds of billions of tons of coal in the United States and trillions of tons of coal in the world…and, Colorado is a leading producer of excellent coal.  You’re telling us that we’re just going to abandon this economical source of energy in this state?...in the name of “green?”  They tried to make it look like a “green, anti-pollution bill” – but what it really is, is anti-coal.  And, even the “pollution part” of the whole thing is a Sierra Club forced EPA (spineless) decision…that carbon (carbon dioxide) is a pollutant.  This was (and is) nothing more than a overly zealous enviro-political (non-scientific) judgment that is completely without merit and self-serving (screw the people). 

 

As is typical of these types of players – the stealth approach.  Keeping much of this quiet and under the table…not really including anyone else from the outside (such as the coal companies)…and then during the last few days of the legislative session – sell it (spring it) as the best idea since the wheel…and that no one is against it.  There’s good reason for this and rushing it through was intentional on the part of the bill's sponsors - because the more (longer) it was exposed , the worse it looked.  

 

The near zero emissions clean coal technology is already here, so why not add to and further develop existing technology instead of switching to a more expensive alternative (or at least use clean coal technology as a bridge/complement to future energy sources)  which also have carbon emissions problems?  Plus, CO2 sequestering from the clean coal process can actually be used to get more oil/gas out of the ground.  Ask yourselves… are we really going to let (radical) environmentalists and the EPA (puppet) shut down all of America  - especially Colorado?