Of Climate Change, Coal Plants and the Post Fossil Fuel Era

As the news on climate change becomes increasingly dire, the question that soon follows is “What do we do?” This talk will discuss the progress that is being made in the United States to address carbon dioxide emissions by stopping the development of new coal plants both in Colorado and around the country. It will also discuss the geologic and transportation constraints that exist with respect to the supply of coal in the United States. These constraints are already beginning to drive up prices of coal and are also likely to limit the future reliance of the United States on coal. Finally, the talk will discuss two key developments that can help the United States dramatically reduce carbon emissions in the coming decades. First the growing commitment of American utilities to the use of Concentrating Solar Power (also known as Solar Thermal Electric power) to produce steam for steam turbines and  the possibility of shifting the paradigm in this country from one of “shipping coal” to one of “shipping electrons.” And second the large reductions in carbon emissions that can come from the shift away from the internal combustion engine and the move to electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Leslie Glustrom has a B.S. and M.S. in biochemistry. In 2004 she resigned her job running a structural biochemistry research lab at the University of Colorado-Boulder in order to work full time on climate change issues and on accelerating the transition to the post-fossil fuel world.