I read an Associated Press article in the Evansville Courier & Press today entitled, "Site development begins for Illinois power plant." The article states that Peabody Energy Corp. plans to develop infrastructure for a $2.5 billion coal-fired power plant that will generate 1,600 megawatts of electricity. The coal will be supplied by a nearby coal mine. Gov. Rod Blagojevich attended the news conference kicking off the project and stated that "[t]his is about energy, energy self-sufficiency and energy independence...." He also stated that Illinois was "turning the clock back in many respects" for the coal industry, as it was going "back to how it used to be," with the exception of the new technology being applied. Environmentalists oppose the new plant as it may worsen air pollution, including mercury releases.

I was actually taken aback by this article as I was under some impression that Governor Blagojevich was actually interested in air quality issues, especially reducing mercury emissions. Instead of being forward thinking, he actually appears to be a throwback to the last century, when coal was the obvious choice for power. He even admits that this project reflects a turn backwards in thinking about coal--the "how it used to be" comment. Maybe he thought these remarks would bring some sort of nostalgic feeling on the part of many people. In my mind, however, it is scary and sad that reverting to the coal burning concept is seen by many as the way of the future. The mentality seems to be that if we just burn the coal we are sitting on until there is no more, we can rely less on foreign oil and other energy sources. As long as we have this "security," we shouldn't be so bothered by all of the air pollution and other coal waste that we are generating. After all, people in the early 1900s had to deal with it so why should we care? To me, this thought process could be used to justify us going back to the horse and buggy (which actually we might have to go back to someday if we keep using up all of our fossil fuels). In this day and age, can't we be more forward thinking and look for new alternatives that don't involve digging up half of the Midwest and West and burning dirty coal? We are surrounded by sun and wind, but we let much of that energy go to waste. If we devote so much of our focus to finding more coal reserves, how are we ever going to make the next leap forward and find true energy self-sufficiency that won't be dependent on fossil fuels?