Election 2008: What’s At Stake?

Oil isn’t America’s only black gold. And with the emerald glow as every candidate claims to be greener than the next, the jury is still out on the long-term future of the country’s most prevalent fossil fuel: coal.
In coal-producing Illinois, coal’s role in the environment and economy promises to play a critical role. A prototype [...]

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Ethanol plants like this Adkins Energy LLC plant in Lena, Ill. use an average of four gallons of water per gallon of fuel they produce. When irrigated corn is used that number can balloon to nearly 1,000 gallons of water. (Photo by Rob Runyan)
By Rob Runyan/Medill
Watergy
No, it’s not the newest vitamin-enhanced thirst quencher on the [...]

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(Photo by Phil Taylor)
Duke Energy’s coal-fired plant in southern North Carolina. The company is studying whether an addition will capture a maximum of mercury emissions. Construction is planned during the study.
 

Energy demand clashed with economics Tuesday morning at the North Carolina Public Utilities Commission hearing on the state’s long-term electricity demand, and the environment was [...]

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Duke Energy’s Lake Wylie Hydro Station, straddling York County, South Carolina and Mecklenburg, North Carolina, generates 60 megawatts of power, enough to power almost 10,000 homes. North Carolina passed an energy mandate last year requiring utilities like Duke to have 12.5 percent of its energy come from renewable sources and energy efficiency by 2021.
By Phil [...]

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