We Need Coal

By 2042, America's population is expected to grow by 100 million. Even if we were able to reduce personal energy consumption by 25-50 percent, we would still be significantly behind due to the population growth. That means each person would have to cut their energy usage by 75 percent. It is a fact that 400 million Americans can't live on less energy than 300 million Americans and many of them are already using energy efficient appliances and electronics.

This means that America's future electrical needs will include a variety of fuel resources and that includes coal. The question isn't whether we will use coal but how we will use it. We have to use it cleanly. Research must be done into clean coal technology and that means putting money toward funding that research.

Instead of wasting valuable time arguing against funding for critical new technologies, we had better spend the time and energy finding ways to ensure the funding of advanced clean coal technology. We can't wait years and decades to make these investments, because other countries such as China and India and others are going to continue to increase their use of coal and most likely won't develop their own clean coal technology. The U.S. has a great chance to demonstrate international leadership by developing that technology and work to transfer it around the world.

We need to keep building new coal plants that are carbon capture ready so they can be retrofitted once the technology is ready. If we eliminate coal, we would become overly dependent on other more expensive forms of energy such as natural gas at nearly three times the cost of coal. We need all forms of energy but coal is our most abundant and affordable fuel source for electricity and it will remain a part of America's energy outlook for the foreseeable future and beyond.