Grist | Topics | 31 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 25 of 31
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Run your car on coal? Maybe not CTL fuels: still a bad idea	Guest author	25 Mar 2008	Gristmill
The following is a guest essay from Peter Montague, executive director of the Environmental Research Foundation. ----- As the price of oil rises, coal company executives smell a huge opportunity: they are planning to ramp up a new global industry to turn coal into liquid fuels (diesel, kerosene and jet fuel), plus basic feedstocks for the chemical industry to make plastics, fertilizers, solvents, pesticides, and more. The coal-to-chemicals industry is already going ga ...
Topics: coal, energy, carbon sequestration, politics, coal-to-liquid fuel (all these topics)

Quick, change more lightbulbs! China kicks off the coal-to-liquids rush	David Roberts	21 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Looks like China is about to uncork the CTL genie, opening a plant to produce liquid fuel from coal. This won't be the last: A study last year by the Chinese Academy of Sciences said: 'Production of liquid fuels from coal is practically the most feasible route to cope with the dilemma in oil supply.' It concluded: 'Establishing large-scale CTL [coal-to-liquids] plants on the pitheads of several main coalfields is feasible and competitive when oil price is well o ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, China, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

The liquid-coal military industrial complex Air Force and liquid coal industry interbreed	Joseph Romm	24 Jan 2008	Gristmill
A friend just sent me this remarkable story, 'Former Air Force official joins leading coal-liquids developer,' which appears in the little-known Aim Points, 'A daily summary of news, messages and communication tactics to help AF people tell the AF story.' It looks like the 'tactic' AF people are being told about is the good-ol' revolving door: Ron Sega, up until last year the Air Force's chief energy executive, has joined the board of directors of coal-to-liquids ( ...
Topics: coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

A Black Day With oil prices rising, Asia turns to coal		04 Jan 2008	News
Posted at 11:44 AM on 04 Jan 2008 You may have heard that oil prices are flirting with $100 a barrel; what's an oil-dependent, energy-hungry globe to do? In Asia, home to a third of the world's proven coal reserves, the answer seems obvious. Across the continent, billions of dollars are being poured into R&D of coal-to-liquid fuel and coal-bed methane extraction. Some tout the new technologies as clean 'n' green -- but coal by any other ...
Topics: Asia, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy, news (all these topics)

The Coal Nine Yards Coal industry asks for still more handouts, and Washington lends an ear	Brian Beutler	19 Sep 2007	Muckraker
We're gradually learning how the U.S. government will approach our country's energy needs in the carbon-constrained future -- and if you were envisioning a future free of mining the earth for dirty energy, you should probably check the optimism. Same coal, same coal. Photo: iStockphoto Two important hearings on Capitol Hill earlier this month strongly indicated that we're stuc ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, Muckraker, politics (all these topics)

CTL follies Coal-to-liquid is a dead end if there's a price on CO2	Joseph Romm	09 Sep 2007	Gristmill
One final post on this week's liquid coal hearing. Forbes wrote up the hearing and got my bluntest quote: 'Coal-to-liquid is just a dead end, from a climate perspective,' added Joseph Romm, a senior fellow at the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress. 'Liquid coal will not have a future in this country, no matter how much money Congress squanders on it.' Well, I guess 'liberal-leaning' is better than 'liberal.' Why is liquid coal a dead end? B ...
Topics: coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

Christians against coal mining Rev. Allen Johnson calls on churches to condemn mountaintop-removal mining	Grist	08 Sep 2007	Gristmill
This is a guest post from Rev. Allen Johnson, whom we interviewed last year as part of our God & the Environment series. Johnson heads Christians for the Mountains, a group fighting to protect the Appalachians from mountaintop-removal mining. This post is reprinted with permission from the Moyers Blog. ----- On August 22, The New York Times published an article that began, 'The Bush administration is set to issue a regulation on Friday [August 24] that would ens ...
Topics: coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, mining, politics, religion and spirituality, West Virginia (all these topics)

CTL hearing report My testimony to Congress on liquid coal	Joseph Romm	06 Sep 2007	Gristmill
Here's the inside skinny on yesterday's liquid coal hearing before the House Science & Technology Committee. It was four on two (NRDC's David Hawkins and me vs. the other witnesses). You can read my testimony here and all the witness statements here -- not that I would recommend doing so unless you are a serious liquid-coal junkie like me. About 10 members of Congress were there at any given time -- about evenly split on how they view liquid coal. The ranking Rep ...
Topics: climate, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy, politics (all these topics)

Coal welfare queens unite Liquid coal coalition gears up to suck from the public teat	David Roberts	28 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Mike Millikin brings word of the horrific goings-on at a recent conference on liquid coal. Witness: [Sen. Jay] Rockefeller [D-W.Va.], after saying that "coal is the single greatest chance our country has for achieving energy independence," outlined what he described as four key elements for building the coal-to-liquids industry. Build up military uses of coal-based fuels. ... Work together to keep all those who support coal on the s ...
Topics: coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

CTL rulez! United Mine Workers of America provides fodder for time-capsule editorial on liquid coal	JMG	27 Aug 2007	Gristmill
This editorial in the Niagara Gazette is from 2007, not 1977. Honest.Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, quickly cut to the chase on this matter by labeling CTL as a legitimate and real answer to resolving numerous worrisome issues on the table for our country. Energy independence, national security, the trade deficit and economy all stand to benefit greatly from the expansion of CTL technology. In West Virginia, thousands of jobs with good wages and ...
Topics: coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

Everything you need to know about liquid coal In a nutshell	David Roberts	20 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Business types discuss various subjects at industry confabs: best practices, new marketing strategies, changes in the regulatory environment, etc. They discuss how better to compete. When representatives of the coal-to-liquids industry get together, they talk about something else: One theme dominated discussion last week at an industry-sponsored conference on turning coal into gasoline and diesel fuel: finding political support for government incentives.
Topics: business, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

Climate confusion in Hong Kong Dumb arguments rear their heads yet again	Joseph Romm	25 Jul 2007	Gristmill
A reader pointed me to a letter in the South China Morning Post, "Cold water on the warming debate" (subs. req'd). The writer, a senior research fellow of the HK Institute of Economics and Business, rehashes a number of mistaken arguments I hear all too often: Many people fail to knit together these two strands - climate change and the exhaustion of fossil fuels. If they did, they would see that the energy crisis, which is predicted as a result of ...
Topics: climate, climate change skepticism, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

Liquid coal op-ed Come and read it	David Roberts	27 Jun 2007	Gristmill
I've got an op-ed on the Guardian's opinion site about -- what else? -- liquid coal. Here's how it starts: They say the first thing you should do when you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging. But if there's one thing the coal industry loves, it's digging. Generating electricity by burning coal has ravaged the climate, but it's made coal barons in the US rich. They worried for a while that global warming would mean the end of the gravy train - they're the o ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

Obama's attempt to [your metaphor here] on liquid coal It ain't working	David Roberts	25 Jun 2007	Gristmill
The Washington Post has a piece about Obama's attempts to split the difference (thread the needle? straddle the fence?) on the subject of liquid coal. Y'all are probably sick of hearing me talk about this (watch for an op-ed soon!), so I'll outsource the making of the basic point to Brian Beutler and Brad Plumer, namely: this is a difference that cannot be split / needle that cannot be threaded / fence that cannot be straddled.Time to pick a side: coal industry or plan ...
Topics: Barack Obama, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

What role coal? The chair of the Select Committee on Global Warming weighs in	Representative Ed Markey	21 Jun 2007	Gristmill
Congress is about to confront the challenge of coal, and much of what we hope to do to reduce the threat of global warming hinges on these decisions. There's a useful test to use whenever the challenges of fossil fuel dependence and global warming come up: We must reduce the threat of global warming without worsening our dependence on foreign oil; and we must reduce the threat of oil dependence without worsening global warming. When it comes to co ...
Topics: coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, Ed Markey, energy, politics (all these topics)

Breaking: Senate fights off liquid coal More victories	David Roberts	19 Jun 2007	Gristmill
Sweet! Here's a press release I just got from Friends of the Earth: ----- WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate today voted against two attempts to encourage the use of liquid coal, rejecting a pair of amendments to the energy bill that would have alternately mandated 6 billion gallons of liquid coal use annually by 2022 or provided $10 billion in loan subsidies to produce liquid coal. 'This is a victory for anyone who takes global warming seriously or cares about env ...
Topics: climate, coal-to-liquid fuel, Congress, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics, US Senate (all these topics)

Washington Post v. liquid coal The paper, like everybody else who doesn't stand to benefit, doesn't like it	David Roberts	18 Jun 2007	Gristmill
The lead editorial in the Washington Post today beats liquid coal about the head and shoulders, using all the familiar arguments. Here's a challenge: somebody out there send me a thoughtful defense of liquid coal that doesn't issue from the coal industry, a paid shill of the coal industry, or a legislator from a state that would benefit from coal subsidies. In other words, find me a defense of liquid coal, on the merits, from a non-interested party. Anyone? Bueller?
Topics: coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

Dingell and Boucher back off worst elements of Energy Committee proposal Chalk up a win for Pelosi	David Roberts	18 Jun 2007	Gristmill
Well hey, look at that! No sooner do I write a post on the horrible legislative proposal out of Dingell's Energy Committee than I find out that Pelosi has more or less beat it back. A memo Dingell sent to the committee today (PDF) says that he and Boucher are removing most of the controversial elements: the CTL subsidies, the weak fuel-economy standards, and perhaps most significantly, the preemption of state (read: California) tailpipe air quality standards. The me ...
Topics: coal-to-liquid fuel, Congress, energy, John Dingell, legislation, Nancy Pelosi, politics, US House of Representatives, Washington DC (all these topics)

D.C. Wherein I chat with House types	David Roberts	18 Jun 2007	Gristmill
Hi! I'm back. And -- if you'll indulge me in a little whining -- I'm sick as a dog, woefully behind on the news, buried under work, and just generally frazzled and bedraggled and haggard. And what's with time zones? They're stupid. Woe is me, I tell you. I wanted to do a quick post about my D.C. trip, though, which was a blast. Of course the party was great. Somebody (me?) will probably do a separate post about that later. But aside from that, I ran around town meet ...
Topics: coal-to-liquid fuel, Congress, energy, John Dingell, legislation, Nancy Pelosi, politics, US House of Representatives, Washington DC (all these topics)

Ready to Barack Obama qualifies his support for coal-to-liquid fuel		13 Jun 2007	Daily Grist
Ready to Barack Obama qualifies his support for coal-to-liquid fuel Illinois senator and presidential hopeful Barack Obama (D) has qualified his support for coal -- which is, you may recall, the enemy of the human race. In January, Obama cosponsored legislation to provide incentives for production of coal-to-liquid fuel. He was lambasted by enviros; influential advocacy ...
Topics: Barack Obama, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, elections, energy, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Obama, CTL, and opportunity costs Better, but still not great	David Roberts	13 Jun 2007	Gristmill
This statement from Obama is a welcome clarification of his position on liquid coal: he says he won't support it unless it demonstrates 'at least 20% less life-cycle carbon than conventional fuels.' The key term, of course, is 'life-cycle.' Unless he's weaseling, that means the whole shebang, from mining to refining to burning. This is a clear line in the sand, and Obama's to be commended for it. But.It still dodges the crux of the issue: opportunity costs. The techno ...
Topics: Barack Obama, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, elections, energy, politics (all these topics)

CTL stupid compared to plug-in hybrids, say experts, people who can read	David Roberts	11 Jun 2007	Gristmill
A couple of heavy-duty energy wonks from Carnegie Mellon have this to say: The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is considering enacting policies to subsidize the production of transportation fuel from coal-to-liquid projects. Tepper School of Business researchers determined plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are a far better and less costly choice. -- Generating electricity from coal with carbon capture and sequestration and replacing the fleet with plug-in h ...
Topics: cars, coal-to-liquid fuel, Congress, electric vehicles, energy, hybrids, politics (all these topics)

MoveOn fights liquid coal Sign the petition!	David Roberts	08 Jun 2007	Gristmill
I opened my inbox the other day and thought I must be dreaming: the venerable progressive organization MoveOn is taking on coal-to-liquids (CTL). This is from an email they sent to their over three million members on Wednesday: In the next few weeks, Congress could vote to DOUBLE the amount of greenhouse gases America produces from our cars and planes. It's the greatest single threat to solving the climate crisis in a decade. It sounds crazy. But Congress ...
Topics: air pollution, cars, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy, fuel efficiency, politics, websites (all these topics)

Coal state newspapers attack liquid-coal plans Wisdom from the heart of coal country	Joseph Romm	07 Jun 2007	Gristmill
It's not news when I criticize Congress's proposals to subsidize coal-to-liquids (CTL). After all, my focus is avoiding serious global warming, which CTL would only make more likely. But when two newspapers from traditional coal regions say "no" to CTL, that is a man-bites-dog story. The Kentucky Herald-Leader has a great headline: Liquid coal a new version of snake oil: Don't subsidize energy plans that would worsen global warming. The Roanoke Time ...
Topics: coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

CTLariffic!	David Roberts	30 May 2007	Gristmill
Business writer Marc Gunther doesn't like liquefied coal. Neither does the New York Times editorial board. If we have any musicians in the audience, do me a favor: write a song called "Coal Is the Enemy of the Human Race." I'll do my best to make it a hit.
Topics: coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy (all these topics)

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