Coal and Oil are the new cigarettes

Remember most electricity is not really clean!



Have you ever driven past the huge electric power plant near Eatonton Georgia?  There are mountains of black coal next to the large smoke stacks.  Some folks don't understand that if you invest in an electric car, you may not have any visible emissions from your vehicle, but somewhere the electricity that you are using is likely to have origins in coal.  Burning coal produces carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide that contribute to climate change just as gasoline powered cars do, but there is solid . waste left and other gases like sulfur dioxide that contribute to acid rain.

When I was a kid, the evil in our society was determined to be cigarettes.  It took over twenty years to convince the general public how dangerous cigarettes were.  The research was clouded by "scientific research" that was later determined to be financed by the cigarette companies.  Over time the government added taxes, regulations and eventually the number of smokers greatly decreased.

Last summer the headlines were that we have surpassed the carbon levels ever scene on the Earth.  We have had scientists trying to warn us about the dangers of greenhouse gases since the 80's.  Finally, President Obama made a speech about reducing emissions last week.  This is not a problem that we can control in the United States.  The emissions we release effect countries like Bangladesh.  The fact that we had the knowledge about the dangers of oil and coal back in the 1970's and we decided not to invest in solar energy technology is simply abhorrent.  Is money is more important than life?  Will that be the legacy of our society?