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Of course we should keep using coal to produce electricity. It’s a resource that’s too valuable and abundant to ignore. We just have to do it as cleanly as possible. So the thing that matters most is pollution – but the thing that matters more, as usual, is economics.

One approach that would seem to answer the energy and pollution issues is turning coal into liquid fuel. We’ve known how for a long time, and the consensus seems to be that the result is a cleaner fuel source.

Some operators are taking that step. Last summer, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued a construction permit for the $2 billion, 630-megawatt Taylorville Energy Center, a proposed “integrated gasification combined cycle” power generating plant.

The U.S. Department of Energy, reports that coal gasification electric power plants are already operating, “and many experts predict that coal gasification will be at the heart of the future generations of clean coal technology plants for several decades.”

However, gasification is not part of the coal battle being fought over the proposed expansion of Alliant Energy Corp.’s Sutherland Generating Station at Marshalltown. It would use pulverized coal and would be built “carbon-capture-ready,” which means no carbon capture yet.

“We have explored other options as far as using coal,” said Alliant spokesman Ryan Stensland, “and this is the best available technology that’s affordable for our customers at this time.” The plan calls for spending $1.5 billion, three-fourths the cost of the Illinois project, and the plant also could burn biomass fuels.

Comparing such technology with gasification on cost alone is going to lead to the cheaper option – and a fight about pollution – every time.

It would make more sense to skip that debate, go straight to the best technology available and put some federal money into it. Use the coal we have, avoid pollution – and save money in the long run, compared with the real cost of fuel from hostile and unstable sources.