For Immediate Release March 9, 2009
Contact: Daniel Reilly 202-225-2836
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) will convene a hearing tomorrow of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment entitled, “The Future of Coal Under Climate Legislation.” The hearing will address the future of coal under an economy-wide cap on greenhouse gas emissions, including the technologies and policies that may help reduce coal’s carbon footprint.
Invited Witnesses:
WHEN: 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday March 10, 2009
WHERE: 2322 Rayburn House Office Building
** The hearing will be audio webcast at www.energycommerce.house.gov.
Chairman Markey's opening statement as prepared for delivery follows below.
Statement of Chairman Edward J. Markey As Prepared for Delivery
"The Future of Coal Under Climate Legislation"
Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
House Committee on Energy and Commerce
March 10, 2009
There is a growing consensus that, to avoid catastrophic climate change, we must cut global greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent by 2050. U.S. emissions must be cut by at least 80 percent in the same period. Those objectives, quite simply, cannot be achieved unless we act quickly to control coal-fired power plants.
Coal supplies half of all electricity in the United States, and we have the largest coal reserves in the world. China and India also have abundant reserves and are even more coal-dependent. But while coal is plentiful, it's also the leading source of global warming pollution. Coal-fired power plants are responsible for over a quarter of all U.S. and global greenhouse gas emissions.
We are at a watershed moment. By 2030, U.S. electricity demand is expected to increase by 30 percent, and global demand will double. Coal's role in meeting that demand will play a huge role in determining the fate of our planet. Globally, as many as 3000 coal-fired power plants are projected to be built by 2030. These new plants alone would increase global emissions by 30 percent.
At the same time, coal's future here in the United States is deeply uncertain. In the face of escalating public opposition and regulatory risk, dozens of planned coal-fired plants have been cancelled in the last two years. The Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration is now predicting a flatline in construction of new coal plants over the next 20 years. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to move forward with regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and other sources under the Clean Air Act.
Carbon capture and storage - or "CCS" - offers a path forward for coal, an opportunity for the U.S. economy and a bridge to a low-carbon future. CCS generally involves capturing CO2 emissions at the source, and disposing of the CO2 in deep geological formations. All indications are that CCS is a viable interim solution to the coal problem. CCS could also dramatically increase domestic oil production - by providing abundant CO2 for enhanced oil recovery. Ultimately, CCS can go beyond geological disposal. For example, Silicon Valley-based Calera Corporation is proposing to convert captured CO2 into cement. That technology could be a game-changer - a win-win solution that would dramatically reduce cement's carbon footprint while sequestering billions of tons of CO2 from power plants.
All these advances are possible, but only if we enact the right policies to drive innovation. The economic recovery package passed last month includes $ 3.4 billion in advanced coal technology funding - much of which will be used for CCS demonstration projects.
But ultimately, only climate legislation can provide CCS the boost it needs. To create jobs and unleash the private sector's vast resources and ingenuity, we need regulatory drivers and strong incentives. An economy-wide cap on global warming pollution will provide the long-term investment incentive. But the cap alone will not ensure rapid deployment of CCS. To drive innovation, we must require new coal plants to use CCS by a date certain. At the same time, we must provide robust financial incentives for early deployment of this technology. This carrot-and-stick approach was included both in my iCAP legislation and in the discussion draft put forward by Mr. Dingell and Mr. Boucher last year.
If we fail to bring CCS online quickly, we will have the worst of all worlds. Coal's future here in the United States will remain dim, and the fleet of coal-fired plants being built in China and India will swamp whatever emissions reductions we achieve at home. But if we blaze this trail, the world will follow and we will reap the environmental and economic rewards of leadership. I trust that this morning's hearing will help guide us in that endeavor.
