STEVEN Chu, the next secretary of energy of the United States, has said coal is his "worst nightmare." The Nobel prize-winning physicist is deeply concerned about global warming and fossil fuels' contribution to that trend.
But Barack Obama's administration will soon be in an unenviable position of responsibility.
It costs nothing to posture to get the green vote. It's a different matter to be held responsible for whether the lights stay on and the economy recovers.
That will take coal.
Ill-considered words could seriously impair capital flow to the linchpin supplier of energy in the United States - the coal industry - and thus weaken U.S. energy supply and the American economy.
Chu has acknowledged that coal is the "default option" for meeting growing energy needs in the United States.
The nation has more than 290 billion tons of recoverable reserves of coal, and coal-fired power plants now provide more than half the power consumed in the United States. It costs Americans, on average, 8 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Unless and until the United States has replacement sources of power up and running, it had better keep capital flow to the coal industry in good shape.
Chu knows this in a way. He noted in a speech early this year that barring improvements in energy storage and transmission, intermittent renewable sources of energy could not service more than 30 percent of the nation's power grid.
This is an illuminating realization.
The next president, the next Congress and the next energy secretary will have to keep the power flowing somehow. That means assuring would-be investors that it is rational to invest in coal mining, coal-fired power plants and carbon capture-and-storage projects as well.
Otherwise, we'd better hang onto our candles.
If the next administration sends the wrong signals about energy supply and investments, it could mean brownouts or blackouts for the American people, and lights out for the American economy, too.
dailymail.com