Two widely divergent viewpoints on global warming presented Tuesday at the
Coal Market Strategies Conference might prompt industry executives to flip
coins to decide which direction to follow.

The twist to the presentations was that both speakers told the Tucson,
Arizona, audience they supported clean-coal power development.

"Clean energy should really focus on pollution reduction ... and not carbon
dioxide, because carbon dioxide is not a pollutant," Tom Harris, executive
director of the Natural Resources Stewardship Project, said.

On the other side, Michael Goo, climate legislative director of the Natural
Resources Defense Council, told the American Coal Council audience, "The
public now recognizes global warming as the number one environmental issue.

"Some predictions suggest we might have an ice-free Arctic in the summertime"
by 2050 due to global warming from carbon emissions. And coal-fired power is
the main culprit, he said. New coal-fired plants will emit 180 billion metric
tons of carbon dioxide over their lifetimes, with two-thirds of the globe's
coal generation coming online by 2030 not yet built. Meanwhile, world carbon
emissions from coal-fired plants from 1751 to 2000 totaled only 143 billion
mt. There will be a "big, big build" of new coal-fired power between 2020 and
2030, Goo said.

But, "at NRDC, we understand the power of [coal]. We're not trying to make it
go away. We think coal is going to be part of the energy picture for a long
time."

New power plant policy should mandate "no new conventional coal. ... We need
something on the order of the Manhattan Project for clean coal."

Science behind global warming disputed

Harris, meanwhile, went to lengths to present a case questioning scientists'
consensus on the imminent danger of global warming.

He asked, "Do world climate scientists really agree that our emissions of CO2
are causing a global warming crisis?" Harris contended that they do not.

--Steve Hooks, steve_hooks@platts.com

This is an excerpt. For more news, request a free trial to
Platts Coal Trader at
http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/index.xml?src=story