It seems everything costs more these days. Milk, eggs, gas and
even coal – the price of each of these commodities has risen in
the last And as we all know, the media loves to point this stuff
out. There are articles and news reports like this one nearly
everyday, telling us that as the price of fuel goes, so go our
electric bills. But one important fact is often left out, which
is that even with price increases coal is still by far our
cheapest full source. Here’s how some of our major energy
sources stack up based on the average cost in dollars per
million Btu for 2007 (annual average for the full year): Coal —
$1.78 Petroleum liquids — Natural gas — $7.45 (You can take a
look for yourself at
www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm.pdf) like these make
it clear that we need to continue to develop carbon capture and
clean coal technologies. Finding better ways to use our most
affordable and abundant fuel source will not only help us keep
America running, it will help ease the costs of doing so.