The Atomic Show #078 – Armond Cohen, Executive Director, Clean Air Task Force Air

Armond Cohen and Rod Adams talk about coal power plant emissions, effort to require cleaner coal technology, and the Clean Air Task Force’s neutral position on nuclear power.

On January 8, 2007 I chatted with Armond Cohen, the Executive Director of the Clean Air Task Force (CATF). Here is an excerpt from their About Us page:

Founded in 1996, the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring clean air and healthy environments through scientific research, public education, and legal advocacy. Our unique and singular focus on atmospheric issues has allowed us to go deep on the issues, and be persistent and effective.

Made up of 20 senior scientists, lawyers, MBAs, economists, and public outreach professionals, CATF is headquartered in Boston but located throughout the United States. Our work is augmented by collaboration with nationally recognized technical and economic consulting organizations such as The Northbridge Group, Environmental and Energy Analysis, Inc., Abt Associates, and MSB Energy Associates.

Armond and I discussed coal gasification, carbon capture and sequestration, and the CATF position on nuclear power. We also talked a bit about how his organization is governed and what issues they choose to tackle with particular regard to CATF’s currently “neutral” position on atomic energy.

To save you a little trouble, here are some links to the organizations that employ the members of the CATF board.

• Mechanology – Eric Ingersoll, the CEO and Chairman is a member of the CATF Board of Directors.
• General Compression LLC – Mr. Ingersoll also serves as Chairman of General Compression, LLC
• Natsource – Bill Tyndall, Managing Director of Natsource Asset Management LLC is a member of the CATF Board of Directors
• The Northbridge Group – Bruce A. Phillips is Director, The Northbridge Group and a member of the CATF Board of Directors.
• Environmental Defense – Elizabeth Thompson, Legislative Director, Environmental Defense is a member of the CATF Board of Directors
• Southern Environmental Law Center – Jeffrey M. Gleason Board Chair of CATF, is Deputy Director of the Southern Environmental Law Center and Director of Regional Programs

As Armond made clear during our discussion, his organization’s positions are guided by the board of directors. I will leave it to you to connect the dots and conclude why CATF might be so forceful about implementing and enforcing regulations that accept continued use of large quantities of coal as long as the plants implement the latest and greatest in emissions controls.

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