Carbon Capture and Sequestration, the fantastical technology
that industry lobbyists say will allow us to burn coal with no
consequences, is about to get a shot in the arm. The new climate
legislation working its way though Congress would allocate tens
of billions of taxpayer dollars for CCS — and its flagship
project, FutureGen. Science says that avoiding catastrophic
climate change means global GHG emissions must peak by 2015 and
fall dramatically thereafter. That leaves about six years to
shift our energy system away from ever-increasing emissions to a
pathway that will keep temperature increases below critical
levels. CCS is unproven, and even the most optimistic estimates
don't predict commercial readiness before 2020. A more realistic
timeframe is 2030. Unfortunately, this fact isn't stopping
friends of the coal industry in Congress, who are throwing
massive sums of dollars at it. Money for CCS means less money
for real solutions The US does not need to build new coal plants
to meet its energy needs. Fe