Coal - to - Liquid

WV Public Energy Authority’s Plan for Your Future

The WV Public Energy Authority’s (PEA) energy plan is out for public comment. Read the document at www.wvdo.org/community/EOD.pdf.

Three easy guesses, kids! What’s the centerpiece of their plan for "energy security and independence"? No, it’s not all hands on deck for transitioning out of the carbon-era into our job-filled renewable energy future. The PEA’s top priority is coal-to-liquid.

The document states, "New technologies applied to our conventional energy resources will be an even more significant factor in our energy future than nontraditional resources. Specifically, advanced coal technologies represent the most viable option for our nation to transition away from imported oil. Coal, via advanced coal technologies, can be gasified and liquefied."

Ummm ... right. The PEA’s plan pays lip service to energy efficiency, conservation and renewables. But all the meaty details are about coal. Well, the supposed positives of coal, especially coal-to-liquid.

There’s scant attention paid to downsides –such as the wisdom of giving more corporate welfare to coal companies so they can build highly polluting refineries that use loads of water and loads of energy and pump out massive volumes of global warming gases.