Clean coal for fuel

With fuel prices rising to record highs, families are struggling to survive. Oil is being imported with a hefty price tag and oil execs are making record profit while the working class suffers. The use of corn for fuel has had a major backlash in that it also caused a rise in food prices. But perhaps you have not heard all of the alternatives to our oil dependence.
What if I told you that we have a fuel source right here at home that is projected to provide 57 percent of America's electricity by 2030. This fuel source, that is exported to 25 countries, is found in abudence in the USA. With the USA having the largest reserves of any country in the world. This fuel could be to the United States as oil is to the Middle East. Yes, you heard that right. So what is this fuel? It is simply coal.
Coal that is in abudence here in the US is quite possibly the future for this country. Coal has been underated for far to long. Now before you go and think coal is nasty and it is bad for the environment let me share a few facts with you. US power plants that use coal have lowered emmissions by 70 percent since 1970 while tripling production, according to the US Deptartment of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory. It also admitts that new plants built today emits 90 percent fewer pollutants than the plant it typically replaces.
Coal is also being studied to find ways to covert it to liquid fuel. The technology to do this is already here. Funding from the federal government is needed to ensure that the coal is burned as clean as possible at a reasonable price.
Some even believe that coal to liquid technology could burn even less that imported fuel sources.
Now, I know that coal is a non renwable resource, but there is projected to be 290 billion tons of recoveable US coal. That is after 3 centuries of production. (Coal facts 2007) That is a lot of coal.
I feel that coal would eliminate our dependence on foriegn fuels. I can not understand why the government will not push for funding for this remarkable resource. Clean coal technology would not only provide a fuel source, but it would also provide thousands of jobs to stimulate the weakened US economy. Clean coal technology combined with existing fuel sources in the US could virtually eliminate our dependence on foriegn oil making our world a safer, cleaner, and more affordable one.

Please visit http://www.fossil.energy.gov for more information.

Sources: Coal Facts 2007, Coal's Clean Future, article by Kraig Naasz.