This item by Ruan Steyn, an energy realist, is a sharp surprise and a strong reminder that coal is FAR from dead, even in the US. The reminder is needed because everyone on both sides tells us that coal is gone. The Gaian side loves the lie and the pro-energy side (INCLUDING ME) hates the lie. We think that coal is solely a Chinese monopoly.
This Shared Lie is closely parallel to the Keystone Pipeline lie a few years ago. Both sides told us that the entire pipeline was unfinished, and the protests were holding up its completion. Gaia cheered, realists cried. In fact the pipeline has been running for a long time, never halted by the protests. The dispute was about a shorcut or bypass.
I’m always overly pessimistic, and the usual sources don’t help to relieve pessimism.
I might have guessed Kentucky and West Virginia, but I never imagined that some of the Plains and Mountain states are coal-powered.
Coal is still king, more than we’re led to believe.
It’s also interesting that Maryland is mostly nuke. DC gets its electricity from Maryland. The lunatics in DC spent 50 years destroying nuclear power while using nuclear power to heat and cool and light their houses and offices. Ungrateful!!!!
Polistra's Mill 