We all know that coal is one of the bigget vilians when it comes to global warming. We all hear the talk about phasing out coal powered electricity plants.Well, I was on the rail trail by my house today and I found a piece of coal. it's actually very interesting stuff.It was formed when vegetable /organic material was covered by an inland sea during the carbonifeous period. Because it was not exposed to air, the carbon didn't oxidize. Over time and under pressure, very simply, it turned into coal.Pennsylvania has a great deal of coal. In fact, Pennsylvania holds 97 % of Anthracite reserves:15 billion tonnes. (Don't forget too, the first oil well was in Titusville PA!) Anyway- here I am thinking about all the things that burn coal. Some homes, power plants, a few antique trains and I'm sure a few other things. Then, I started thinking about my home state of PA. And I started thinking about Centralia, PA. I have been fascinated by Centralia since I was a kid.Cetralia is on fire. it has been since 1962.You can't see the fire though, because it is underground. It is a coal fire. In 1962, a trash fire ignited an exposed seam of coal and it went underground, burning coal. It's still burning today.Today the fire is estimated at 3700 acres. And pumping out CO2 like nobodys business.Frighteningly, there are 45 other mine fires burning uncontrolably in PA alone. I tried to find data on CO2 production estimates from these fires, but came up empty. I did, however, read about a coal fire in China that has been burning for many years as well. It burns 200 million tons of coal per year. And that one Chinese fire (again, one of many) produces slightly more CO2 than every car in the US combined. Per year. It is estimated China has over 100 such mine fires burning out of control. As is the case in the US, officials feel the only recourse they have is to let them burn until there is no more coal in them.Centralia is estimated to have another 100 years worth of fuel. The reason I posted this was to ask if anyone knows whether there is more CO2 data on this subject ( and also because I figure not everyone knows about this issue). I have no idea whether there is any solution, but it is a CO2 source you never hear about. if anyone can offer anything or any links, please do! Have a Happy New Year!

70% of rainforest island to be cleared for palm oil

http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1213-woodlark.html

 I am the staunchest advocate of ending illegal and old growth logging and think logging should be phased out completely. My personal cause is the Rainforests and i lived in Washington  and saw the evisceration of the countryside by timber murder. I was just about to send in this form letter to my Representative until I read it. Was this written by a know-nothing child?  I'm too embarrassed to show my rep what is being produced by Greenpeace to send it in now! Shall I edit?

I urge you to co-sponsor the bipartisan Legal Timber Protection Act of 2007 (H.R. 1497) to fight the growing threat of international illegal logging.

 From Brazil to the Indonesia, illegal*(strike "illegal" :it's all destructive) logging is taking a terrible toll on ancient8(strike ancient) forests worldwide. Each year, millions of acres of forests are razed by illegal logging operations, leaving human rights abuses, environmental destruction, forest fires,*(one thing logging DOESN'T cause is forest fire) and devastated communities in their wake. Criminal logging( as opposed to CO2 free legal logging I suppose?) also emits staggering???amounts of greenhouse gases,*(far less than a small city or big corporate center construction site, but standing forest DOES remove CO2, or did you forget?) contributing to global warming that affects us all*(doesn't bother me!). At home, American timber companies*( the shining stars of green industry?) lose an estimated $1 billion each year due to unfair competition from illegal logging.(*( with all that Teak and Mohogany growing in Idaho...) It is inexcusable to sacrifice American jobs*(boo hoo) to unchecked criminal logging overseas. Those who profit from illegal logging (Bush makes criminal US logging legal, remember?) are trying to water down the Legal Timber Protection Act. I urge you to join the diverse coalition of industry, labor, and conservation organizations that support the bill, and work to pass it as soon as possible. When passed, this balanced, practical measure will help protect forests, honest jobs, and people worldwide. PS. Stop using so much paper. That is the real issue. Tragic as 9/11 was, it did illustrate a scary point.:did you see the CLOUDS of bleached office paper floating down???