Last week, the National Energy Technology Laboratory (a project of the Department of Energy) issued a new report on every climate activists’ favorite subject: coal. Specifically, this report is about Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), and it poses yet another major red flag to the viability and wide scale deployment of CCS.

The take-away of the report? Implementing CCS on a typical coal plant will nearly double the water consumption of an already huge water consumer - upwards of 4 billion gallons a day. And in some regions (namely California, Florida, and New York), water usage could rise by 250%-350%.

So wait - if one of the major impacts of a changing climate is water shortages, why would we promote a “solution” that involves doubling (or tripling) water usage?

To be a little fair(er), there is lots of ongoing debate in our movement around CCS. There are plenty of lively discussions and perspectives on whether CCS is something climate activists should support, or whether it is simply the dying gasp of the dirtiest industry waging a massive PR campaign to keep coal alive. (can you tell which side I’m on?) Check out a sampling of articles on Alternet, It’s Getting Hot In Here, and here on Grist. And check out these two fact sheets about the “clean coal” myth and CCS from the Energy Justice Network and one I prepared with Rainforest Action Network. For the pro-”clean coal” side of the debate, just tune into you local presidential debate, or check out industry-sponsored “grassroots” front groups like America’s Power.

Just to be clear - this latest report furthers the reasons CCS should not be a priority for the climate movement. CCS is an unproven technology that may or may not even work commercially, will raise electricity costs substantially, lower efficiency, double the water usage, maintain our dependence on dirty fossil fuels, continue to destroy communities from mining practices, provide rationale to keep building coal plants, excuse private corporations from any liability for catastrophic leaks or problems, entail building thousands of miles of new pipelines to transport C02, and further deprive proven clean energy development of much-needed funding.

CCS sounds like the time-honored Pentagon “Star Wars” boondoggle, or a typical corporate handout - not a solution to the climate crisis. We’ve got until 2010 (3 years!) to stabilize our emissions and begin dramatic reductions. The most hopeful estimates of CCS don’t see widespread deployment for 2 decades or more. We don’t have two decades. The only way we can avert catastrophic climate change is immediately transition to low/no-carbon energy sources. Energy efficiency, conservation, and clean renewables are proven solutions to reduce our emissions- and it’s time we stop letting fossil fuels trample them down for funding, access, and prioritization.

CCS is a pipe-dream, a distraction, and a gamble. And it’s a gamble that our future hinges on. Don’t let the coal industry flip the coin - we need to change the game.

-Matt