Coal-fired Power Plant Expert Marie Corio on Clean Energy Radio

Dr. Marie Corio, CEO of Applied Economic Research, was good enough to be my guest on this week’s Clean Energy Radio show.

Marie never fails to impress the heck out of me. Here’s a professional at the very apex of her field in terms of the analysis of coal-fired power plants, whose command of metallurgy, thermodynamics, chemistry, and several other related disciplines is hard to match – yet is able to present all this at a truly appropriate level for a non-technical audience. But isn’t that the mark of a true pro?  They make it look easy.

Another aspect of Dr. Corio’s approach that I like is her stalwart pragmatism. “I’m not an advocate for coal,” she said, “But I am an advocate for keeping the economy from falling back into recession. Abruptly cutting off coal would cause a huge spike in electricity prices that would drive many businesses under. I think that concern has to trump our other worries.”

I’m reminded of Stephen Lacey, formerly the top industry analyst at Renewable Energy World (now at Climate Progress) who refers to himself with the following terse description: “I’m an energy pragmatist.”

This makes a lot of sense to me, and I try to follow along with the positions that I take myself. In fact, it’s a refreshing break from the doctrinaire narrow-mindedness that we come across so often on both sides: both the rabid environmentalists who fail to grasp the full consequences of what they’re espousing, and some of the rightwing extremists who don’t perceive any responsibility on our part to regulate business as necessary to take care of the only home we have.

Thanks again to Dr. Corio; I’ll post a link to the show as soon as it’s available.