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Beyond Coal:
Liquid Coal
December 2010
A number of green groups are sending this letter to President Obama on Monday, December 13, opposing the Deptartment of Energy's loan guarantee to a liquid coal plant in Wyoming.
Liquid coal releases almost double the global warming emissions per gallon as regular gasoline, making a hybrid filled with liquid coal as dirty as a Hummer H3 running on regular gas.
Liquid coal also requires huge amounts of water, and would lead to an over 40% increase in coal mining just to replace a mere 10% of our nation's transportation fuels. Proponents of liquid coal also want the government to funnel billions in subsidies and tax breaks to artificially create an entirely new industry. Liquid coal is arguably the dirtiest, most expensive energy gamble we could take.
According to estimates by the EPA, the global warming emissions of liquid coal will be over double that of regular gasoline. Moreover, even with carbon capture and storage liquid coal will still be dirtier than the gasoline we use today. This chart modelled on EPA's studies show you how different alternative fuels stack up.
Take Action: Fight Global Warming, Oppose Liquid Coal
Ask Congress to oppose any efforts to jumpstart a new massively polluting coal-to-liquids industry.
Factsheet: Learn more about liquid coal and its consequences.