Draft Sixth Power Plan Comment

I am very impressed with how much electricity the plan proposes to save through conservation and expansion of renewable energy sources. I am expremely disappointed that the current plan does not make any serious attempt to reduce carbon emissions. The current level is 390. The maximum sustainable level accepted by serious climate scientists is 350. We MUST incorporate serious immediate reductions of carbon emissions in our energy plan. The most effective way to do this is by reducing the amount of coal burned. "Clean coal" is a illusory marketing strategy, not a solution. Since coal burning produces only about a third of our energy but produces 87% of our carbon emissions, reducing coal burning as a source of electricity creates a tremendous bang for the buck. The energy strategy for the NW has the opportunity to be a model for the rest of the country. There is no doubt that carbon emissions are triggering climate change. We need to act now if we want there to be a future. Please produce a plan to reduce coal burning by at least one-half in the next five years, yes, at least ten percent per year, and phase it out completely by 2018 or earlier. The technological challenges for solving the storage and distributions issues of wind and other renewables are simply that, challenges. We have the brains to solve them. We have unemployed scientists ready to work. Let's get going!!!! I have five grandchildren. I want them to grow up. I want them to have a life on this planet with breathable air. We must start NOW to clean it up. Thank you again for your hard work on the plan. I attended the open meeting last month in Portland and was very impressed. Our congress should take decency lessons from the officials and people of Portland. Let's continue to move ahead. Phase out coal. Start today. Thank you very much.