NYTIMES ASKS: IS BURNING COAL OUR PATRIOTIC DUTY?

FROM THE NYTIMES' "DOT EARTH" BLOG:

Coal companies and utilities have tried a new approach in defending black combustible rock as the fuel of the future, at least in Kansas.

They helped pay for newspaper ads there on Monday criticizing the decision last month by the administration of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to deny air-quality permits for two 700-megawatt coal-burning plants. The denials were based on health and environmental risks from global warming.

Such ads are not unusual. But these particular ads were topped by three cheery images of heads of state with rather low approval numbers in the United States – Presidents Mahmoud Amadinejad of Iran, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Vladimir Putin of Russia.

“Why are these men smiling?” asked the advertisement, which was paid for by Kansans for Affordable Energy, a group that has received financial backing from a local utility, Sunflower Electric Power, and the world’s largest private coal company, Peabody Energy.

The answer: “Because the recent decision by the Sebelius Administration means Kansas will import more natural gas from countries like Russia, Venezuela, and Iran.”

The ad went on to say that the United States has 250 years’ worth of coal in the ground at current rates of use, and that only imports of liquefied natural gas, much of it from hostile countries, would be able to supply power if coal is off limits.

“Without new coal-fueled plants in our state, experts predict that electric bills will skyrocket and Kansans will be more dependent than ever on hostile, foreign energy sources,” the ad said.

THE DECISION BY SEBELIUS IS INSANE. CO2 IS NON-TOXIC AND DOESN'T CAUSE GLOBAL-WARMING.

AND THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION POSED BY THE NYTIMES IS "YES."

• I THINK WE NEED VAST WIND FARMS, MORE SOLAR ARRAYS, MANY MANY MORE CLEAN COAL-BURNING PLANTS, AND MORE NUCLEAR PLANTS.

• AND WE NEED TO DRILL FOR OIL OFF THE COASTS OF CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA AND IN ANWR.

• IT'S ALL SAFE AND CLEAN.

• REPEAT: CO2 IS CLEAN. CO2 IS NON-TOXIC, AND AGW FROM CO2 IS PURE BS. CO2 IS A LAGGING INDICATOR AND NOT A CAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING.

THE "ANTI-COAL/ANTI-NUCLEAR/ANTI-OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING" LEFT-WING IS THE REASON WHY OIL HAS NOW NEARED $100/BARREL.