Hey, Solar Kids! Let’s Learn About (expletive deleted) Coal!

Published on November 5, 2009 by Tor a.k.a. "Solar Fred".
Categories: Solar Trends.

Clean Coal
photo of cute as pie coal by ittybittiesforyou

This wonderful coloring book below is written by the West Virginia Coal Association. It’s geared toward teaching our coloring book aged children about the beauty and splendor of coal with puppy dogs and happy trees! Solar Fred kids, but not about this.

My favorite page is page 15, where it shows how lumps of Coal are given a scrubbing before being burned. That “takes out most of the harmful gasses.” Scrub, scrub, scrub!

Wow! And all those trees and former mountain tops and water drops are so thankful and happy! Oh, the joys of coal. Why limit this to a coloring book? We should take our kids on a coal field trip!

In fact, if you’re a teacher or a parent, please, please, please take your kids to a coal fired power plant. Then after you take a shower and a few breaths from an oxygen tank or asthma inhaler, take those same kids to a solar farm or show them solar on somebody’s roof. Then ask those kids which kind of power is better and which kind of energy they’d rather have when they grow up. I’m thinking that parents would not allow their kids to go to a coal power plant. But I’ll bet there wouldn’t be any problem going to clean, quiet, solar PV farm.

Could some creative graphic artist please make a satire of this Coal coloring book? Please send the result to us, and we’ll post and pump the hell out of it.

Lets Learn About Coal

Read the 8 brilliant comments below or add yours!

Comment on November 6th, 2009.

LMAO!! This is great, Tor! Thanks for the morning laugh!

Hank Identicon Icon Hank
Comment on November 6th, 2009.

This is ridiculous! How do these people sleep at night? I realize we are not at a point where renewable energy can completely take over, but we are close! I guess there is lots of money behind coal and they know it’s going to slip away from them if they don’t change public opinion (no concern for the damage to the environment, just potential damage to their lined pockets!)

Comment on November 6th, 2009.

Start ‘em young, huh? What a pathetic piece of propaganda. I like how mountain tops are described as “over burden” and how the coal mine looks as clean as a hospital.

Rhone Resch is right – solar advocates need to make our voices heard above the din coming from the coal industry and its ilk.

Thanks for posting this.

martin Identicon Icon martin
Comment on November 8th, 2009.

“Use of Sunlight: “There will come a day when coal will become just a rock to be left on the ground.” ?

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/partner/martin-herzfeld-4563/news/article/2008/10/use-of-sunlight-there-will-come-a-day-when-coal-will-become-just-a-rock-to-be-left-on-the-ground-the-provision-directly-benefitting-the-solar-industry-an-internal-rate-of-return-11-14-53767

martin Identicon Icon martin
Comment on November 9th, 2009.

The issue with non-renewable technologies is the source of exergy. For instance, compare Table 1.1 of Energy and Exergy. Sunlight in comparison would be a substantial source of exergy.

http://books.google.com/books?id=ruR7U3IjrR0C&pg=PA15&dq=Sunlight+rich+exergy&ei=9m_4SoqsE4-qkATz7fXaBQ#v=onepage&q=Sunlight%20rich%20exergy&f=false

“CARMA in Google Earth”
http://carma.org/blog/earth/

“Renewable Energy Interactive Mapping Tool”
http://www.epa.gov/renewableenergyland/mapping_tool.htm

Also there are risks with non-renewable technologies:

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/finance-accounting/financing/venture-capital-private-equity/FIN_CFN_VNC/139726-7005576

Solar would be the substantial solution and is proven and working technology.

http://www.asrc.cestm.albany.edu/perez/

Color of crayon would you suggest for the sky in the future?

Comment on November 11th, 2009.

Do utilities even let you go into coal plants for tours? If so, I’d like to sign up for one, videotape it, and post it to the web. It’s actually hard to find any good inside videos of coal plants on YouTube. This makes me think utilities generally abide by the rule –> “Out of sight, out of mind” when it comes to propagating coal propaganda.

martin Identicon Icon martin
Comment on November 18th, 2009.

If CA, consider taking a tour and explore the “day skies” and learn about the sun?

http://chabotspace.org/VISIT/solarviewing.asp

martin Identicon Icon martin
Comment on November 18th, 2009.

If internationally, suggest the “Association of Science and Technology Centers”:

http://www.astc.org/

Or learn about the sun:

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/sun_for_kids_main.html

For adult education to the public, consider?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER-2dqd1h3I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWKHmE8_Mkc

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