No Such Thing as Clean Coal, Barack... and Nuclear?

[SnoopDog]

And the stadium went silent....

Looks like he had to 'earn' some contributions....

[NightWatcher]

1. I cringed too at that line.....it wasnt needed

[budkin]

2. I didn't like hearing that.... but damn I'll take me some Obama!

[sandnsea]

3. Votes

Miners in West Virginia and Montana, for starters.

[apnu]

4. the problem is we don't have anything to replace oil now.

And nothing is ready to come on line that we don't already have. He's talking about using coal and nuclear as a stop gap until we can update our power grid and get into wind, solar and water power.

Its a tough sell, but that's the reality of it. I applaud him for understanding that.

[SnoopDog]

5. Sorry bud, but that's a load of crap...

First, no such thing as clean coal.

Second, no Nuke plants have been built for decades - why? It will take a decade to build a nuke plant - we easily can build solar generation and wind plants....

[apnu]

8. I agree with you, but we still only have so much to work with.

Its a knotty problem, it will take some sorting out.

[RepublicanElephant]

6. barack ain't perfect....

let's just get him in the white house first.
then we can work on perfecting him.

[Skip Intro]

7. Same with new drilling, stop gap measure that it may be.

[moriah]

9. Guess it's like "safe sex" -- should be called "cleanER coal".

There is a logistics issue here.

We have a LOT of coal power plants in this country. We also have quite a bit of coal. *IF* we can find a way to utilize it in a fashion that is better for the environment, it will be cheaper to retrofit those plants than it will be to build new ones. It would be helpful for the transitional phases while building the infrastructure for true renewable energy.

As for nuclear... Nuclear is truly a "not in my backyard" issue. I'm from Arkansas. We get almost all of our electricity from the hydroelectric system on the Arkansas River. But I know many people who live in the evacuation zone for Arkansas Nuclear One (which is actually two reactors). One of the reactors is completely water-cooled, which means that it dumps hot water into the lake (and we hope "hot" means warm, not radioactive) and harms the fish. The spent fuel is still stored onsite because there's no safe place to store it. But we sell that power to many of our neighboring states.

None of us want the plant there, any more than the people near Yucca Mountain want the spent fuel stored there. When I was young and naive I thought it would be a good idea to take the stuff into space and put it on a course to collide with the sun (the largest fusion plant in our galaxy *grin*). But as I got older I thought about the consequences of the first failed launch.

I would rather put money on trying to refit the current coal power plants to be cleaner than to build new nuke plants. But that's just me.

(fixed tyop :) )

[endthewar]

10. There's nothing wrong with saying "clean coal"

Obviously coal is coal, but the government could do a LOT to change what companies are allowed to put out into the environment. You think coal companies care about the environment? They care about the city and federal ordinances placing limits on pollutants that they can put out and they put out pollutants at that limit. They have crafty engineers and lawyers much smarter than politicians to figure out loopholes around these laws. Also, you can't just shut down coal companies across the company because they are often located in some of the poorest regions of our nation. You think the poverty is bad in West Virginia now, shut down the coal plants and see what happens.

[SnoopDog]

12. Shut down a coal plant -

JUST DO IT. And take care of those displaced - I bet they could install solar power plants... or wind mills...

We, I mean they, kill American jobs everyday and nobody thinks of them... do we? yes, but...

[endthewar]

13. Go visit places like West Virginia sometime

I lived there for a year. Labor jobs are all some people there have.

[SnoopDog]

11. Don't get me wrong...

I am just a citizen democrat - hoping Obama will do what citizen dems expect - and maybe I just hate having to pandering to the lowest common denominator....

[Occam Bandage]

14. Nuclear is the best of a pack of bad options. Leaders say the inconvenient truths, too.

[SnoopDog]

15. Solar Power Roof Tops, Solar Thermal power, Wind, Geothermal....

Clean solutions....Please.....

[Occam Bandage]

20. Great. Maybe we can push 10% of our network with those.

Renewables are, right now, fantastic supplementary sources of energy. Maybe within 15 years, we'll be able to build them faster than our energy needs grow; maybe within 20, we'll be able to start closing down traditional plants. If we increase funding, we might hit those benchmarks sooner; an Obama administration would certainly lift renewable energy funding to all-time highs--and that will serve us well twenty years down the road.

However, we are forced to deal with the problems of 2010 before we deal with the problems of 2030. Renewables simply aren't cost-effective replacements for our national power grid at this stage.

[tkmorris]

19. Trouble is, there are no nuke plants in the pipeline to be built

By the time we brought any new plants online we could have acres and acres of wind turbines already up and running. Solar farms, same thing. Nuclear can't be built quick enough to be an effective stop gap option.

[SnoopDog]

25. Thank you TK - this is what I am saying...

It will take a decade for a polluting nuke plant to come online only to worry about the waste.

Nuclear energy is archaic and only benefits NUKE people.

Build soalr/wind/geothermal NOW -

Not cost effective my ass. That is a straw man argument. Once its built - its freaking free (minus maintenance).

[Stellabella]

34. Do you have ANY idea how much the nuclear industry

has been subsidized by taxpayers?? Billions. BILLIONS of dolalrs.

If we put that kind of money into solar and wind, we'll be home free.

[mnhtnbb]

16. I noticed Al Gore made NO mention of nuclear power.

I think the fact that Obama included it is an indication of how Obama will proceed to be 'inclusive'.
I just hope he doesn't give in to nuclear power.

[Jennicut]

17. We need those things until we have enough of the clean types

or else our economy will fall apart and lead to ruin. James Lovelock, Mr. Gaia himself supports nuclear plants.

[RollWithIt]

18. Ummmm, they took that part of the prepared speech....

I didn't hear him say it, he talked about biofuels and renewable energies instead. I'm for more nuclear plants anyways, but I don't think clean coal is viable.

[malik flavors]

21. He said he's try to find a way to safely store nuclear waste. What's wrong with that?

he said he invest in researching clean coal. What's wrong with that?

More research is needed for both of these things, and it would be foolish to just give up on them.

[1corona4u]

22. How any of you could be sitting here, BITCHING about

ANYTHING he said, is way beyond my scope of understanding.

STFU.

[Raine]

23. Agree

it would be nice to enjoy a high for a little while before people start griping. I notice this was posted before he even finished his speech. Let's save the griping for at least a few hours! :argh:

[SnoopDog]

24. Ex-cuse-me????

I can post what ever I want within reason. This is a valid post. So...save your directives for a valid cause...

[OwnedByFerrets]

27. Sure you can.....

and we can ask you politely to let us enjoy the high for a bit without having to listen to fucking whiners.

[SnoopDog]

29. Real Patriots don't Whine...

Thanks for your terse response...

Real Patriots, people you give a damn, speak out IMMEDIATELY when something is wrong.

I am not against Obama - maybe someone on his staff will read this and say WHAY THE FUCK? and tell Obama to get on the Democratic Track on the bullshit clean coal (republican tm) and nuclear energy.

Do I make my self clear there bud?

[1corona4u]

31. I think....

people like you, find something to bitch about, whether it's reasonable or not. This man just gave a powerful speech, outlining his ideal plans, and whether or not they are doable, whether or not you, or anyone else "likes" them, at least HE has some IDEA of what NEEDS to change.

I stand by my first statement!!

You may return to your dark abyss of negativity.

[SnoopDog]

33. To quote Dr. Martin Luther King...

I had/have a "fierce urgency of now' to voice my direct concern with a extremely troubling point of Barack's speech concerning the absolute lie of clean coal and nuke energy,.

Barack Obama, I believe, welcomes my viewpoint.

Some people are not afraid of VOICING ONES OPINION...

[apocalypsehow]

26. Oh, I understand it - the OP is "concerned" about it all. That's been going on for awhile. n/t.

[1corona4u]

32. Unbelievable.

Obama won some people over tonight. I can assure you of that.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

28. after all, coal workers don't want to lose their jobs

[invictus]

30. I don't like it either. n/t