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Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah
Yes, wood is dirtier. There is a very good reason why it is banned in many cities. However, if you are collecting firewood and burning it that is a "renewable resource" and hence can be part of a 0 emissions goal.
Coal on the other hand takes millions of years to form. It is a fossil fuel.
It is a simple mathematical equation -- the amount of carbon that enters the atmosphere each year must equal the amount that comes out. Carbon is not the villain, the villain is the excess carbon. 100 years ago there were very few options other than coal (wind, water). But today that is not true by any stretch. 50 years ago you could argue that solar and wind are not an economically viable option, that also is no longer true by any analysis.
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For me it never was an either/or option. Many of my rural friends burn wood efficiently. When I had a huge tree cut down last year, I had them stack all the wood along the street - common practice - and within a couple days it was all gone, picked up by guys in pickup trucks who have wood stoves. If awareness was closer, he would have got all the wood.
The point is - we should have diversity. Where I am, coal power plants are great, and solar is mostly stupid. Out in Arizona, coal is stupid, and solar is super. I'd like to see fracking natural gas be used in more homes, but with the incredible advances in heat pump technology, it is now the best option for rural America. My in-laws, who get no winter sunshine, living on the north side of a mountain, dug four wells in the yard, and now got all the cheap heat they will ever need. My brother used to live in Queens, and he thought Nuclear was a horrible idea there because of evacuation, but it seems to work great in the rural South and Midwest. Like I said, diversity! Options!
And some politician in WashDC should not be able to shut down the coal industry, simply because the coastline liberal elites agree with him. Yet if he really cared for environmental safety, he would not have permitted dozens of train consists daily to move high volatile Balkan crude through the cities to enrich his buddy Warren Buffett who owned the trains.
Trump has replaced corruption with common sense contrary to mainstream media chatter -- oh yeah, after months and months they still have found no evidence of Russian collusion. But don't stop looking, it's got to be there somewhere.