Regardless of the campaign & political jargon, “Clean Coal” in an oxymoron. Coal is dirty by production, the single largest source of carbon dioxide pollution in the US & the largest source of mercury emissions in the country. Pollution from coal-powered plants is responsibly for 13,200 deaths per year, (Treehugger) (1359 from PA alone), 20,000 heart attacks, 217,600 asthma attacks, and more than 1.6 million lost work days per year. “Clean coal” is a technology that will cost billions to test and wouldn’t be ready for decades.
In PA alone, coal plants emitted 101,690,275 TONS of Carbon Dioxide… along with mercury, arsenic, and lead in coal ash, right in your backyard. Instead, if we switched to renewable energy sources like wind, solar and efficiency improvements (way better alternatives than coal), it could create 1.1 million jobs by 2030.
Touring the ship was pretty impressive – all the Greenpeace staff and volunteers are clearly well informed and truly passionate for the cause. With around 30 people traveling on the ship, they definitely keep each other motivated (I approved of the disco ball in the one room). The crowd touring was very interested, asking questions about Greenpeace’s journey and research.
The Arctic Sunrise is an icebreaker (meaning it can sail through the Arctic) having researched climate impact and the post-oil spill Gulf this past fall. Ironically, the ship was a destructive fishing ship at one point. It was acquired by Greenpeace in 1995, and other tasks have included peacefully protests against whaling and studying the Petermann Glacier in Greenland.
If you have a chance to check them out before 6 PM tonight, I highly recommend it! Best of luck to the Greenpeace crew on the rest of your journey!
Posted by Julie
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