The Reign of Coal

If you read this post in Grist, and David Biello’s piece in Scientific American, you’re likely to walk away feeling encouraged by the recent China-U.S. joint statement, which lays out the common ground between the two countries on a host of issues, including “climate change, energy, and the environment.”

But if you want a more nuanced perspective, check out this post from Simon Donner, who also advises,

Read through the statement, and it is appears that both countries expect coal to remain king, and that emissions reductions will depend on the development and widespread implementation of CCS [carbon capture & sequestration] technology at coal-fired power plants.

So climate advocates applauding this “progress” between China and the U.S. must be feeling pretty good about that clean coal technology on the horizon.