“Coal is not merely important to the United States and to the world, it is indispensable,” said a coal industry leader today at the Senate Energy Summit. James F. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Foundation Coal Corp, urged Congress to support efforts to accelerate the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies that could soon pay enormous dividends to the U.S. as well as to the developing world, which is increasingly turning to coal as the most abundant and affordable energy source.Testifying on behalf of the National Mining Association (NMA), Roberts said coal generates half of America’s electricity, thanks to a 250-year supply that will remain a central component of US energy supply. It is therefore unrealistic, said Roberts, to believe we can address the issue of climate change without supporting “the rapid development and global deployment of advanced clean coal technologies, including, most importantly, carbon capture and storage.”

Technologies capable of capturing greenhouse gas emissions from coal combustion can open the door for clean and affordable electricity and for secure transportation fuels, said Roberts.  By taking the lead in developing these technologies, the US can fully use its coal reserves to enhance its energy security and to address global climate change.

Roberts said the US – more specifically the federal government – must do more to support and accelerate the development and deployment of CCS technologies. The $3.5 billion spent on CCS in the past decade is “wholly inadequate” to the challenge we face, he said.  FutureGen, the coal-based power plant designed to be among the world’s first to produce near zero emissions, was a promising example, he said, of the commitment the US should make to demonstrate its leadership in advanced energy technologies.  The US Department of Energy’s decision this winter to withdraw support for FutureGen was “incomprehensible,” Roberts said.

In view of coal’s importance, those who seek to halt all future coal-based power plant construction are misguided, said Roberts.  “We cannot afford to ban all new coal prior to those technologies being commercially ready” as this would threaten our economy and our energy security and have a devastating impact on the very CCS technology that are “an essential element of any realistic climate plan.”

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hosted the all-day summit to facilitate the development of comprehensive energy legislation.