I'm quickly becoming a huge fan of Planet Green television. The regular shows are pretty good, albeit similar to other Discovery Networks programming, but what got my attention tonight was the 2 part documentary Expedition Alaska. (Note: The link listed at the end of the show doesn't appear to work.)

If you saw this program tonight, then you'll understand why it fills me with an unhealthy level of anger about what's happening to our planet. I lived in Alaska for two years back in the early 90's. I've seen the beauty of Alaska up close and personal, walked on her frozen tundra, fished the streams, hiked through her forests, and what I saw tonight on Expedition Alaska is outrageous.

Two things bugged me the most as I was watching this show. First, was the methane bubbling up from the permafrost in Northern Alaska. I've walked on that ground, and looking down into the hole they dug and watching the methane bubbling to the surface from two feet down was like a kick in the teeth. That gas should be trapped, yet in the middle of a small lake, there was so much methane escaping from under the water it could be seen from the air.

And then there was the sea ice. I was simply flabbergasted that it was a 2 hour boat ride from shore just to find any sea ice at all, and even then there was very little. I remember seeing lots and lots of sea ice when I was in the Bering Sea, and it wasn't like we had to go looking for it. Usually it found us.

I'm not only furious because of the dramatic impact global warming is having on our planet; That in and of itself is bad enough. More than that, I'm angry because even though the stark evidence of the impact of global warming is right there, being broadcast directly into our homes, people I talk to every day will tell me climate change doesn't exist. I mean, you can see it right there with your own eyes in your own living room, yet there are still idiots and greedy corporations out there who are trying to convince people that it's not real, that it's just part of a natural cycle, or whatever the latest FUD is.

How they can say that in the face of such overwhelming visual evidence shoved right in their faces is truly beyond my ability to comprehend. It's just... astounding.

I suppose I shouldn't be so angry that I'm actually writing a rant about it, considering the climate change deniers wouldn't be caught dead watching a channel like Planet Green in the first place.

Some people simply don't get it. When it comes to science, you don't begin a study already knowing the outcome. Generally, you begin a study by asking a question, then conducting tests to determine whether or not you were correct. But to far too many politicians, science is simply another tool to advance a political agenda.

In this case, it's politicians in Alaska, mainly Republicans, who want to hire "scientists" to disprove studies already conducted by the state's Interior Department.

See, the politicians don't like the idea that scientists are showing polar bears are threatened by climate change, and need to be named as a protected species. Actually doing that would mean one thing... less windfall profits for their buddies in big oil.

The Alaskan government wants to find scientists who will study polar bears to prove they are not threatened by global warming, officials say.

Republican legislative leaders in Alaska say the current scientific stance that polar bears are being "threatened" by global warming could potentially have a negative impact on Alaska's economy and arctic oil development, The Anchorage Daily News reported Sunday.

"We want to have the money to hire scientists to answer the Interior (Department) scientists," House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez, said of the scientific fight.

Unfortunately, these politicians will most likely get their way, and in the process all they'll accomplish, other than further oil profits, is to confuse the public even more about the realities of climate change.

You know, it's news like this that really makes me hate getting up early on Monday mornings. I apologize for the short diary before heading out for work, but seeing this story really annoyed me this morning, and I just couldn't leave the house without sharing.

What bothers me the most, however, is that these politicians are openly calling for junk science so that they can continue their political agenda, and they feel absolutely no shame in doing so. That, my friends, is what I call disgusting.

Representatives Henry Waxman and Edward Markey have introduced a new bill that strictly limits how new coal-fired power plants are being built. From their announcement:

"Comprehensive economy-wide regulation to address global warming is coming soon," said Rep. Waxman. “But new uncontrolled coal-fired power plants are being built today. My legislation says: “No new plants without emissions controls.” The alternative is senseless - locking in decades of additional global warming emissions and requiring greater emissions reductions across the U.S. economy to compensate."

"If we lose control of coal, we will have lost control of the climate," said Markey, Chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. "This bill will make companies prepare for the future and prevent them from building low-tech coal-fired power plants before a global warming bill is passed that will necessitate the use of the newest, most climate-friendly technology. "

Without emissions controls, a new coal-fired power plant will emit hundreds of millions of tons of global warming pollution over its fifty-year lifetime. Over 100 new plants have been proposed, and even if just a portion of these are built, they will emit over a hundred million tons of carbon dioxide a year. One of these plants alone could offset the reductions that will be achieved through the Northeastern states' Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

The bill places a moratorium on either EPA or states issuing permits to new coal-fired power plants without state-of-the-art control technology to capture and permanently sequester the plant's carbon dioxide emissions. The moratorium extends until a comprehensive federal regulatory program for global warming pollution is in place.

The bill also bars a new coal-fired power plant without state-of-the-art control technology from receiving any free or reduced cost emissions allowances under a future federal program to address global warming.

While it's not an outright ban on new coal-fired power plants, it may work out to becoming an effective ban. Companies are not going to want to build coal-fired power plants when the costs of meeting these strict requirements are so high.

An outright ban on coal power plants, while it would be the most desirable action, isn't likely to pass either the House or Senate. As it is, this bill is going to have a long, hard fight in order to make it to the President's desk. And I highly doubt the President will sign such a strongly worded bill.

But more often than not, legislation of this type takes three or four attempts before it becomes law, and with a new President in office in less than a year, chances are it's only a matter of time before coal goes away forever.

Keep in mind, however, that while people may not be totally against coal-fired power plants if they're permanently sequestering CO², there are still a lot of coal mines out there wreaking havoc on the environment. The only long-term solution is an outright ban, but I don't have a problem taking small steps towards that goal when the opportunity presents itself

The bill itself hasn't been assigned a number yet, and it isn't listed at the Library of Congress yet, but you can read the text of the bill as it was introduce here (pdf).