While we do not support any candidates, it’s great to see that John Edwards is showing strong leadership on climate change by releasing this clearly worded podcast that lays out a program of deep carbon emissions reductions. He even comes right out and says there should be no new coal-fired power plants – a position shared by other presidential candidates like Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd. This adds Edwards’ voice to the growing list of scientists, politicians and opinion leaders calling for a moratorium on coal in order to curb climate change.

When Edwards says that he will “stop big coal from building a single new power plant in America that doesn’t have the technology to capture their carbon emissions,” he is effectively stating that he will stop every single coal-fired power plant from being built for the foreseeable future. Not one of the 150 coal-fired power plants currently on the books can be built with CCS (Carbon Capture & Storage) for decades since the technology does not yet exist on a commercial scale. Even when it does come on-line, it will likely be inefficient and potentially dangerous – essentially a hugely expensive way of keeping coal on life support.

So what Edwards is advocating is a complete halt in funding of coal — no more government subsidies, no more tax breaks, and no more bank financing for outdated dirty energy! Shifting money away from coal will free up tremendous amounts of capital and public money to invest in efficiency and renewables – two other important elements of Edwards’ energy plan and fundamental pieces of a clean energy future.