Letter to the Editor | News | Congressman Ed Whitfield

News | Congressman Ed Whitfield | United States Representative

Letter to the Editor May 10, 2007 Letter to the Editor As issues surrounding global warming and climate change continue to dominate the national headlines and as the United States continues to receive criticism for its emissions of greenhouse gases, coal is under a harsh and unwarranted attack.

Today, coal provides fuel for over 50 percent of all electricity in the United States and over 90 percent in Kentucky. Thinking we can eliminate coal as a fuel source is neither prudent nor realistic.

Furthermore, Kentucky's coal industry has an economic impact of $3.25 billion and employs approximately 17,000 miners, along with tens of thousands of additional workers.

In light of concerns over the dependence on foreign sources of energy, it is important to keep in mind that the United States has a 250 year supply of coal and has invested millions of dollars researching environmentally friendly ways to burn our most abundant fossil fuel.

New clean coal technologies enable coal to be used in a manner that is both more efficient and environmentally friendly. Revolutionary technologies, such as Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle, coal-to-liquid and coal-to-gas technology allow coal to be used in clean and innovative ways. In fact, coal can now be converted by existing modern technology into clean, zero-sulfur synthetic oil and oil products.

In addition to clean coal technology, scientists are currently researching methods to capture and sequester carbon dioxide before it is released into the atmosphere.

As the United States continues to research and develop alternative avenues to produce energy in a more environmentally friendly way, it is essential that we encourage China and other developing nations to do the same.

In 2002, a group of faculty from MIT produced a study entitled The Future of Coal, which states "China's coal output is double that of the United States, and its use of coal is rapidly growing, especially in the electric power sector." The Chinese continue to add coal-fired generation at an unprecedented pace. They are estimated to be building 500 megawatts of coal fired power plants every four days.

As China surpasses the United States in coal production, they too will inevitably emit more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the United States. Therefore, any proposal to reduce greenhouse gases must be comprehensive and include all developing nations not just the United States.

Without cooperation from other nations, such as China, there is no feasible way to reduce the worlds greenhouse gases. If the United States chooses to eliminate the production of coal without exhausting the options of clean coal technologies, we will have done very little to reduce the world's emissions of greenhouse gases, while delivering a vital blow to our economy.

It is imperative that the United States continue to explore, develop and utilize methods in which coal is used to produce energy instead of eradicating the cheapest and our most abundant commodity. When the United States is able to perfect clean coal technology and encourage other nations to do the same, we will significantly reduce the worlds greenhouse emissions.

For these reasons, I believe improving clean coal technologies and encouraging other nations to follow our lead are vital steps in reducing the greenhouse gasses across the world.

U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield

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