When it comes to eliminating actual pollutants such as mercury, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide, coal burning power plants have done a truly remarkable job cleaning up their act. Thanks to rational EPA regulations and narrowly focused cap-and-trade solutions, Pittsburgh is no longer covered in soot and acid rain isn’t killing trees in New England. Through it all, regulators paid attention to physics so the utility industry hasn’t gone bankrupt.

But none of these pollutants are desired end products of coal combustion. This means they can be eliminated without destroying the fundamental energy releasing activity of burning coal. The same is not true for carbon dioxide. Building a coal burning power plant that spits out electricity without producing carbon dioxide is like asking water to flow uphill.