Gore Nightmare Wins as Europe Pays to Ship U.S. Coal

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: November 5, 2007 10:24:32 AM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Gore Nightmare Wins as Europe Pays to Ship U.S.  
Coal

[Note:  This item comes from reader Jack Unger.  DLH]

From: Jack Unger <junger () ask-wi com>
Date: November 5, 2007 7:01:16 AM PST
To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Subject: Gore Nightmare Wins as Europe Pays to Ship U.S. Coal

Now that the price of coal is at a historic low relative to oil,  
there's no stopping consumers and producers alike from embracing Al  
Gore's nightmare.

A ton of U.S. coal is so cheap at about $47 that European utilities  
will pay $50 to ship it across the Atlantic, according to Galbraith's  
Ltd., a 263-year-old London shipbroker. While oil and coal cost the  
same as recently as 1998, West Texas Intermediate crude is five times  
more expensive after climbing to a record $96.24 on Nov. 1.

Peabody Energy Corp., Consol Energy Inc. and Arch Coal Inc., the three  
biggest U.S. coal companies, forecast the largest increase in exports  
in 20 years, degrading the call for a moratorium on coal plants by  
former U.S. Vice President and this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Al  
Gore. Coal use worldwide has grown 27 percent since 2002, three times  
faster than crude, said BP Plc. U.S. East Coast coal has risen 71  
percent, while oil tripled on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

``Coal is by far the cheapest fuel because there's no price on how  
much damage it causes,'' said John Holdren, a Harvard University  
professor of environmental science and director of the Woods Hole  
Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts. ``Unless you get policies  
to put a price on carbon dioxide and other emissions, no other plants  
can compete.''


<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aCDV150sCm1I&refer=home 
>


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