Just days before Christmas a pond wall broke away and allowed between 1.7 - 5.4 million cubic yards of wet coal ash to flood an area 40 miles west of Knoxville, TN.

The TVA coal ash disaster will be the first big test for President-elect Obama's science and environmental teams. Even though we all know that there is much more than just hydrogen and oxygen in our water, the thought of known toxins being in our water, even at "acceptable" levels, is disturbing.

The Obama campaign and now administration has stood fast to the idea of "clean coal" as one way to greening our country's energy system. After this sludge, it may be hard to convince people that coal can be anything but dirty. While some people might have missed the news, you can't miss the "This is Reality" TV spots.

While science is about facts (welcome back facts, you had an eight year vacation!) public opinion does not always follow those facts. Issues like pollution, especially how clean our drinking water is will be filled with emotions. If the science does support "clean coal" technology as a path we should follow, it will take a well-crafted campaign to convince many of us of this fact.