For Release: Tuesday, June 12, 2001
Contact: David Gillies: 202-225-5661

ENERGY SUBCOMMITTEE AGREES: COAL MUST BE A MAIN COMPONENT OF NATIONAL ENERGY PLAN

Washington - Members of the House Energy Subcommittee agreed today that coal and the expanded use of clean coal technologies must be a part of any national energy plan. U.S. Congressman Jerry Costello (D-IL), a senior member of the House Science Committee, presided over the hearing on President Bush's energy plan for the Democrats, and John Mead, Director of the Coal Research Center at Southern Illinois University, testified. Both made the point that coal is an irreplaceable part of our national energy infrastructure and its continued use is compatible with environmental goals. Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Energy Subcommittee Chairman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) both agreed that clean coal technology should be pursued.

"It is abundantly clear after today's hearing that we have no ready alternative to coal as an energy source. Coal currently counts for over half of all electricity generation in the U.S., there is a 250 year supply in the ground, and alternative sources of energy are not yet capable of filling this need," said Costello. "While we need to concentrate on developing alternative forms of energy and continue to improve efficiency, we must put a serious emphasis on clean coal research. Any plan out of the White House must include, to a large extent, coal."

Added Mead, "The federal clean coal program can provide crucial support for a new generation of power systems that are only in the conceptual concepts today: ultralow emission technologies that address all emissions, including carbon dioxide....The eventual application of ultraclean systems will hold tremendous value to a nation whose greatest fossil energy resource is coal."

Mead also emphasized that any new coal plants in Illinois will meet all state and federal emission standards. The permitting process for new plants carefully analyzes air quality impact, and new plants may displace older facilities.

Earlier this year, Costello wrote to President Bush urging him to make coal a major component of his national energy policy. He has been a strong advocate of using clean coal technologies to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil as well as benefit the Illinois economy.

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