Yeah, the fallacy of this article lies here:
“When the answer is coal, environmentalists no longer have a leg to stand on when they advocate for electric vehicles.
Sourcing energy from coal results in nearly four times the number of pollution deaths than gas due to the soot and smog involved in burning coal.”
So, the real answer is to retire coal as an energy source. It doesn’t need to be done fast, but over the next twenty years or so. Replacement and expanded generation should be nuclear instead, which will be both cheaper and MUCH cleaner. The technical challenges facing nuclear are being solved, and could be rolled out quickly with actual commitment from industry and the government.
Coal is a terrible source of power for several reasons, the worst being that it’s extremely dirty. Mercury pollution is the icing on the cake. I know it’s a darling (wedge) issue for conservatives right now, but a commitment to phase coal out would also bring in a swath of people who understand the realities of the issue.
You are dreaming. There will be a revocation of the Zero anti coal agenda. While gas may replace some of the coal fired units, it will be far from total. Clean coal is the current standard and it works.
the only real substitute for coal is nuclear. the hysteria of nuclear power is overblown and chicken littleish. What is needed is small nuclear power plants rather than the humongeous one currently favored.
We have to take our electricity from any source the greens leave standing. I wouldn’t take a kw less from coal until the green publicly apologize and admit they were lying about nuclear. Even then they are probably lying and will be back with die-ins in five years, about the time the nuclear plants should come on line. You cannot fix green. They are stuck in their fear and self-righteousness.
The problem is, you give up one source without having an alternative locked in and you are putting a whole society at risk.