Coal use called greatest threat to our climate

northjersey.com ^ | December 1, 2007 | JIM WRIGHT

[Coleus]

To stop climate change, the nation must "stop coal," a top environmental architect urged during a speech at Ramapo College's conference on climate change. Edward Mazria, who has led efforts nationwide to build more-energy-efficient buildings, said the only way to control global warming is "an immediate moratorium on all new coal-fired power plants in the United States" and a phaseout of older coal plants.

"Climate change is the greatest challenge we have ever faced," he told an audience of more than 400 at the conference. "Either we get it under control or we face very dramatic consequences." Mazria is the author of "The Passive Solar Energy Handbook," considered the bible of solar design. He said the use of coal must be stopped because coal is the only fossil fuel left in the massive amounts necessary to generate enough greenhouse gases to cause catastrophic rises in temperatures and sea levels.

To compensate for the energy lost by erasing the 151 coal-fired plants currently on the drawing board nationwide, Mazria called for intensive research efforts on solar power and an overhaul of how buildings are constructed and older buildings are renovated. According to Mazria, the building sector can achieve huge energy savings because it currently accounts for almost half of the nation's energy consumption and resultant greenhouse gases.

Ramapo Professor Michael Edelstein, the conference's organizer, praised Mazria's plan as "by far the most specific suggestions anyone has made anywhere" on climate change. Edelstein said the changes in building construction needed to drastically cut regional energy use would be a major challenge in New Jersey. "New Jersey and New York are home-rule states, and every municipality sets its own rules," he said. "Basically, if you want to start to shift this immediately, you have to get them in a room now and start changing your local approval process now."

Jeanne Fox, president of the State Board of Public Utilities, said in a panel discussion that New Jersey was working on new building codes as well as new energy standards for appliances. The one-day conference also featured speeches by former New Jersey Gov. Jim Florio and noted environmental author Bill McKibben, as well as sessions on how New Jersey will meet its ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse-gas emission by 20 percent by 2020. Florio laid out some of the tough and complex choices on global warming that the United States must make in coming years, pointing out ruefully that "democracy doesn't deal with complicated ideas very well." McKibben was scheduled to speak Friday night on the societal changes required to make the planet sustainable.

Attending the conference were environmental professionals, local government officials, college students, lawyers, architects, engineers and interested citizens from the tri-state region. A green expo held in conjunction with the conference continues today at the college's Bradley Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

[Rumplemeyer]

This putz should give this speech in Easter Pa., in the Anthracite Region, they would just love it, see if he gets out in one piece.

[cripplecreek]

I've said right along that the greens want to take us back to a hunter-gatherer soviety.

Except for the fact that they don't want us to hunt or gather. They just want our rotting corpses to nurture mother earth.

[MHT]

Nice anti-American plug as the US is the “Saudi Arabia of coal”. The things that need to happen are opening ANWR, which would lead to an immediate drop in oil prizes, and more nuclear power. More people die in coal accidents every year than have collectively died in nuclear accidents. Even France uses nuclear power. We haven’t finished constructing a nuclear plant in 30 years.

[Trajan88]

Climate?

Yawn... don't ever touch these bad boyz... coal fired ovens. They're the only way to go when baking pizza. A couple of my favorite locales:

Brooklyn's Grimaldi's:

Manhattan's Little Italy district's Lombardi's:

[SuziQ]

Edward Mazria, who has led efforts nationwide to build more-energy-efficient buildings, said the only way to control global warming is "an immediate moratorium on all new coal-fired power plants in the United States" and a phaseout of older coal plants.

OK, then I'm SURE Mr. Mazria will be encouraging the construction of nuclear power plants any day now. /s

[SAJ]

Oh, credibility is lacking on all sides in DC, party affiliation quite irrelevant. The Left, however, have evinced almost a catatonic level of credulity for all my adult life. The Right, such as they are, are as goofy as you want, but credulous they are not.

[Darnright]

Bump for later

[SIDENET]

They already built that communal housing. It’s called “Projects” and has the great advantage of easy access to drugs and drug dealers.

Yeah, but they supposedly had good intentions, and that was all that really mattered.

;-)

[Coleus]

.