Coal Story's Next Chapter

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from TomPaine.com:


Coal Story's Next Chapter
Frank O'Donnell, TomPaine.com
July 20, 2007



Frank O'Donnell is president of Clean Air Watch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization aimed at educating the public about clean air and the need for an effective Clean Air Act.

I have a close friend whose family—long before it was deflated by the Great Depression—once had significant wealth derived from a coal-related business.

Several generations of the family read a dog-eared book reverentially titled "The Story of Coal." And the family used to take pride that it once owned, among other things, a racehorse, a boxer and a congressman.

Yes, the Gilded Age was a heady time if you were a coal baron. Tycoons like Henry Clay Frick (when he wasn't hiring Pinkertons to shoot down striking workers) luxuriated at mansions, enjoyed lavish European vacations—even had their own song.

Coal interests obviously wielded enormous political clout in an era when a miner's only friend was a canary. But does the coal industry still have that kind of influence? More specifically, will we have to buy off coal interests in order to enact even a moderately effective plan to tackle global warming?

That's a key question raised by bipartisan legislation introduced last week by Senators Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa. The bill would create a mandatory economy-wide program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It would do this by capping heat-trapping emissions and permitting industry to buy and sell emission credits. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/07/20/coal_storys_next_chapter.php