I was watching presidential candidates speeches and I noticed something Barack Obama said that not every other typical candidate said. When asked about how he would reduce dependence on foreign oil, he didn’t state the same old “hydrogen, ethanol, and hybrid” response. Now I haven’t seen every candidates stance on this issue, but Obama added something else I hadn’t heard. Liquefied coal. [Edit: Mitt Romney also mentions liquefied coal]

Imagine using America’s biggest resource to as an alternative fuel to the gasoline we get from mostly foreign countries. Now imagine that would do to the cost of fuel you buy at the pump each day. Pretty enticing, huh? Coal is America’s most abundant resource and would help spike the economy of our nation since it’s a homegrown product. South Africa largely depends on liquefied coal. Here’s an interesting fact I found:

“Illinois basin coal has more untapped energy potential than the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined. Senator Obama believes it is crucial that we invest in technologies to use these resources to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”

Whoa, was that a typo? Saudi Arabia and Kuwait combined? This surely seems like the miracle fuel we’ve all been waiting for…but wait, there is one negative. Liquefied coal produces emissions cleaner than diesel fuel (which is largely used in Europe) and has about the same emissions as gas. Like all alternative fuels, here comes the asterisk. What about global warming? Well, I think this is the issue Americans need to decide for themselves if they truly believe in it or not. I personally think the best way to go is to fully implement liquefied coal as to decrease foreign independence and that after that is accomplished, we look for cleaner fuels. Gas prices aren’t going to get cheaper, and we need an alternative NOW. I’m tired of large sums of money spent for something that’ll be 10-20 years down the road. The coal is here right now and we have to take advantage.

This brings me to a poll for you guys about this issue: http://www.addpoll.com/view?11333