Dear President-Elect Obama,

Congratulations on your election to the office of the Presidency. I look forward to your Presidency with hope and happiness.

During your campaign, you talked about your energy policy, which included the use of clean coal technology. However, clean coal technology is not clean, and coal will never be a clean source of energy. The toxic byproducts of coal are not magically neutralized through the process to make “clean coal.” They are simply captured in filters. But those filters need to replaced every six months or a year, and they have to be stored somewhere.

I would also like to remind you of your commitment to ending the practice of strip mining. I would go on about all of the horrendous ramifications of it in communities and ecosystems, but you already know most of it, I’m sure. So, I will merely enter a plea for you to remember this issue and please address it during your time in office.

Thank you, and I wish you clarity and good guidance for duration of your Presidency,

Hannah Feldman