Citizen Power

Powershift 09, which just took place, reflects a shift in priorities for activists and protesters–from ending the war in Iraq to saving the habitability of our planet. This is a welcome change because this is where activist efforts have to be right now! The latest protests are now reflecting the most important challenge the world facts. That climate change is now getting so much attention is a very positive change. We need to preserve the habitability of the planet for ours and future generations. This is not even a debateable point, but there will be a lot of resistance to government regulations and various climate legislation in the next few years, so we’ll have some enormous barriers to overcome in the next few years on this subject. There is nothing more precious to some business (and some individuals) than the ability to continue to pollute and retain their freedom to ruin the world for the rest of us. They actually feel it’s their human imperative to retain those rights, so all activists have a big job ahead of them.

Generally, the ways conventionally seen to save civilization from climate change are conservation, efficiency, and renewable forms of energy, as well as other methods like regulation of emissions and the big one - shutting down coal plants. Powershift09 was about getting this message to Washington. They attempted to shut down the capitol coal power plant which is now running on about 65% coal and 35% natural gas. They did succeed in blocking the entrances and shutting it down for a short period of time.

From the Powershift website: “We aren’t going to stop global warming by just changing lightbulbs and driving hybrid cars. The only real solution is to come together and demand unprecedented change through unprecedented action.”

Coal power plants are the cause of most of the world’s most damaging pollution and most of the CO2 currently contributing to global warming. The U.S. and China and India contribute 40% of the greenhouse gas emissions via coal burning to the atmosphere. It’s widely understood that we have got to stop new coal plants from being opened and shut down or transform the ones currently in operation. Transforming means we have to switch these power plants to another form of energy, preferably a renewable source. Natural gas is not a renewable source of energy, but some politicians such as Nancy Pelosi and T. Boone Pickens (who have a personal monetary stake in natural gas) are pushing natural gas to be the replacement for coal. This is, at best, only a short-term answer. Natural gas is another fossil fuel that emits CO2 also — though 56% as much as coal does, according to the natural gas industry’s website. Here are the real statistics on natural gas:

Pollutants: Natural Gas vs. Coal
Source: Naturalgas.org

Carbon Dioxide (Pounds per Billion BTU of Energy Input)
Natural gas 117,000 ——– Coal 208,000
Natural gas pollutes 56% as much as Coal

Nitrogen Oxides (Pounds per Billion BTU of Energy Input)
Natural Gas 92 ————- Coal 457
Natural Gas pollutes 20% as much as coal

Carbon Monoxide (Pounds per Billion BTU of Energy Input)
Natural Gas 40 ———— Coal 208
Natural gas pollutes 19% as much as coal

Bottom line: Natural gas is still a formidable source of CO2 and other pollutants. Saying something is “better than coal” isn’t saying much. Two schools of thought are 1) anything other than coal is an improvement; and 2) (shared by most climate scientists) we should get off fossil fuels completely as soon as possible because we have to stop putting CO2 into the atmosphere completely. Natural gas is a polluting fossil fuel. It’s only “better than” coal because coal is so awful. There is an abundance of natural gas in North America, but it is a non-renewable resource that will eventually run out; the formation of which takes thousands and possibly millions of years. Therefore, retrofitting any power plant to burn natural gas instead of coal only makes sense if you do not believe we are in a climate crisis and need to end the use of fossil fuels; and if you believe that the millions of dollars this would cost us is not better spend on renewable energies. There is also a matter of the time it would take to retrofit power plants for natural gas that might be better spent on installing solar panels. Time does matter, now that we have waited so long to address the climate crisis.

The following report is from a mixture of reports from various sources. Also after the break, more photos from Powershift09.

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