The last session of the day was a forum hosted by KET's Bill Goodman.
There's no argument that modern society was built on coal, but "We're playing in a different world, and Coal's future depends on grasping that..." according to Jeff Goodell, journalist and author of Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future. He made reference to climate change throughout, ending with the point that "You can't lobby Mother Nature". Hard words to hear for an industry that has seen its lobbying dollars grow over 500% from less than $5 million in 2002 to around $25 million in 2008.
Joe Craft, of Alliance Resource Partners, (ARLP), disagreed, citing a cooling trend globally over the past nine (9) years. When asked about his plans to deal with coal waste in the future, he reacted with shock, claiming that there were refuse disposal areas for slurry and coal ash. These impounds have received on again off again media attention, dependent mainly on when one of them fails, often to tragic consequences.
Fred Palmer, chief lobbyist for Peabody Energy, had even more to say, claiming that "The land is better after it is mined, than before it was mined." He also presented an industry initiative for Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), a process where carbon is captured via built-in or bolt-on "scrubbers" to be installed at coal burning power plants. Many see this as a pipe dream, as the process for capturing carbon is still undeveloped and has been compared in scale and scope to the Manhattan Project.
Current estimates indicate that even 60% of our present carbon sequestration needs are the liquid equivalent of the United States' daily oil usage. Put another way, if we started sequestering carbon dioxide now, we would be burying over 20 million barrels of liquified CO2 per day.
Environmentalists were quick to point out that despite the lion's share of federal, not to mention state, subsidies going to Big Coal that alternative energy sources are rapidly approaching an economic break point. If, they say, coal was priced honestly, accounting for all the externalized liabilities not funded directly by the company, then that moment will come sooner. That would be another heavy blow to an industry already under fire for climate woes, or as Jeff Goodell put it "In rapid climate change you look for a bad guy."
Even Craft acknowledged that coal is on its last legs, indicating that it will only be the dominant energy source for the next 20-30 years. Palmer took a different course, claiming that with CCS that coal will become the leading source of energy for Tomorrow's needs, and citing President Obama as "Green Coal's advocate in chief".
Meanwhile, other countries such as Brazil, low on the list of coal users at 19th worldwide, or about 2% of the United States' consumption, are enjoying the privileged status of not being caught up in the global economic perils. While coal use is not a direct indicator of entanglement in the meltdown, Brazil does prove that a country can flourish without heavy fossil fuel dependence, even in times of stagnation and loss.
There can be no doubt that coal reserves are dwindling. The difference lies in what we plan to do about it. The industry argues that we should keep it cheap as long as possible. The problem is that this leads to sloppy energy management. Despite having energy that is only the 5th most expensive per kWh, Kentucky ranks 21st on actual dollars spent on electricity. An honest assessment of the true cost of coal would curb this wasteful trend. At the same time it would send signals to the market, encouraging and harnessing entrepreneurship in alternative energy.
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