Thursday, May 22, 2008

The muted upside of high oil prices

Coal is booming. Economic systems are not static. People aren't going to just stop using oil if there's an inexpensive substitute, and coal is nothing if not cheap. In the short-run, at least. In the long run, coal is much worse for the environment. High oil prices won't have the positive environmental effect that I had hoped for. There is just so much coal out there.

Labels:

2 Comments:

Blogger John Paul said...

Mmm, mmm, mercury! If you're vegetarian, you need worry less that it's not good to eat more than two meals per month of fish caught in Texas lakes or rivers due to the high mercury content, but we fish-eaters and anglers do have to worry about this pollution from burning coal.

May 22, 2008 at 4:51 PM  
Blogger John Paul said...

Right now I'm hopeful for the two new reactors at the South Texas Nuclear Generating Station at Bay City and all of the wind turbines being erected in west Texas. Thank GW Bush for exempting coal plants from getting some mandated pollution controls.

May 22, 2008 at 4:55 PM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home