Policy and Legislation

Liquid Coal: Undermining the Fight Against Global Warming

In Brief: Liquid coal is a giant step backward in the fight to curb global warming.

Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by mining either underground or surface strip mining, the most destructive form of which is mountaintop removal. Coal can be found in most of the United States, but the majority of mines are found in the Appalachia region and the Rocky Mountains. Currently, coal plants generate about half of the electricity for American homes and businesses.

Coal burning power plants emit pollutants that contribute to global warming

Photo: Phillip J. Redman/USGS

Because of a growing concern over America's security, the economy, and the health of our environment, politicians have been looking for ways to decrease our dependence on oil (a worthy goal!). But the coal industry has inappropriately "greenwashed" the idea of "clean" coal by asserting that coal can be produced and used without harming the environment, even though evidence has shown this claim to be totally wrong.

For example, the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining involves blasting the tops off of entire mountain ranges in Appalachia -- the oldest mountain chain in the United States. Already, well over 1,200 miles of streams in Appalachia have been buried by millions of tons of dirt and debris that are generated by mountaintop removal mines. This is just part of the irreversible and widespread damage caused by this one kind of coal mining. If the U.S. increases uses for -- and thus demand for -- more coal, these impacts from coal production will only be exacerbated.

As if the impacts of mining coal were not enough, the process of turning coal into liquid is a global warming nightmare: it produces nearly double the carbon dioxide emissions of conventional gasoline and would be a huge step back for efforts to combat global warming.

Liquid coal is not a viable solution to America’s energy needs. Here are some of the other big problems with using coal as fuel:

1) Liquid Coal is Not the Answer to Lower Emissions: Coal-based fuel would nearly double global warming pollution per gallon as compared with the petroleum-based fuels we use today. For example, using coal-based fuel in a Honda Civic would double that vehicle’s carbon dioxide emissions, making it equivalent to a Hummer H3 running on conventional gasoline.

2) Liquid Coal Production Could Destroy Ecosystems and Communities: Substituting 10 percent of our current oil use with liquid coal would mean 40 percent more coal mining. We already know the destructive effects of surface coal strip mining, include polluted air and water, as well ravaged landscapes. The most damaging is mountaintop removal coal mining that has already resulted in the destruction of hundreds of mountains and buried or polluted thousands of streams in Appalachia. Additionally, just producing liquid coal requires an inordinate amount of water -- a resource especially scarce in the Western part of the country.

3) Liquid Coal is a Poor Investment: Just one liquid coal plant costs $7 billion dollars to build -- and the American people could foot most the bill!  Moreover, every public or private dollar invested in liquid coal is one less dollar available for investment in efficient vehicles, improved transportation systems, smart growth, and sustainably-made renewable fuels.

Mountaintop removal mining at Kayford Mountain, West Virginia

Photo by V. Stockman

There is a Better Way!

The American people have a real choice for clean energy and national security. Leading scientific experts around the world now agree that global warming is real, and that the world’s leaders must take decisive action to head off catastrophic impacts to our planet and ourselves. The cleanest, fastest and most affordable way to enhance our energy security is through greater use of efficiency and clean renewable energy resources coupled with energy conservation.

America is rich in homegrown renewable power, including clean alternative fuels and energy-saving innovations that can make us less reliant on oil without filling up on dirty fuels. Our investments should go toward clean, green, fuel-efficient technologies and other measures that make us more secure while also solving global warming.

What is Happening Now

Thank you to the over 10,000 people who took action to call on the Senate not to support funding for liquid coal development -- with your help, this misguided and dangerous proposal was withdrawn in the Senate. However, the big coal companies will be back, and Earthjustice will continue to work to fight liquid coal proposals and other measures that move us away from real solutions to global warming and our country’s energy needs.