Hearing Of The House Committee On Energy Independence And Global Warming - "The Role Of Coal In A New Energy Age"

Statement

This morning, the Select Committee is meeting to assess the present state of the coal
industry, and explore how coal can continue to play a role in a new energy age.
Coal was mined in this country before it even was a country. The first 13 states appeared
on a United States flag after coal mines appeared on our maps. Coal has helped power
America for nearly 300 years.
And just like millions of other American families over the years, the Markeys had a close,
personal relationship with coal. After my grandfather got off the boat from Ireland in
1902, he got a job hauling coal for the Locke Coal Company in Malden, Massachusetts.
And when I was a boy, I spent many cold winter mornings shoveling coal into our
furnace at home.
Much has changed since those days. We are entering a new energy age, an age in which
technology is making it possible to harness energy from the wind, the sun, the atom, shale
gases, and efficiency measures. Today, many Americans are asking if coal is safe enough,
if coal is healthy enough, and if coal is innovative enough to be part of our shared clean
energy future.
Nine days ago, in the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia, 29 miners lost their lives.
The incident reminds us that mining coal is a dangerous job performed by courageous
people. We owe it to the fallen miners and their families to take a harder look at the entire
structure of mining safety. Today, our prayers go out to the families of those who lost
their lives, and to all coal miners.
The public is also concerned about how safe the mining and burning of coal is for our
environment and our health. From the effects of mountaintop removal, to air pollution
that causes asthma and other health effects, to mercury levels that spike near coal-fired
power plants and catastrophic releases of fly ash, coal faces a myriad of environmental
challenges.
Finally, the burning of coal also releases carbon dioxide, which traps heat and is causing
the Earth's temperature to rise. Climate change is a serious problem, and yet some in the
coal industry deny that the problem of global warming even exists and have contributed
to organizations that spread doubt about science and policy. That has led many to believe
the industry is not committed to finding a solution to our pollution problems.
Meanwhile, the challenges from coal's competition are growing. Last year, coal's share of
America's electricity generation dropped from forty-nine percent to forty-four percent
due to increased competition and decreased demand.
In 2009, forty percent of all new electricity capacity built was from wind, roughly the
same as natural gas. Meanwhile, no new coal plants broke ground. While the rest of the
energy world is already moving to a lower-carbon future, people wonder whether the coal
industry is stuck in another time.
When Henry Waxman and I were crafting the Waxman-Markey bill that passed the House
last June, we worked with several Members from coal states to better understand the
challenges faced by the coal industry and how to respond to those challenges. That's why
we dedicated $60 billion in assistance to the coal industry to help design and build the
carbon capture and sequestration plants the industry so desperately needs.
And so the question on the future of the coal industry is whether the coal industry and
coal-burning utilities will embrace innovation or stand pat and fight change?
We've seen this before. The American auto manufacturers successfully resisted new fuel
economy standards, claiming that the technology to turn gas guzzlers to fuel sippers was
neither available, affordable nor preferable. Eventually, the folly of their strategy of delay
became clear. Consumers abandoned their products, and two of the three major American
automakers received a U.S. government bailout in order to survive.
Today, with the future of the coal industry in your hands, I challenge you to join us in
charting a new path forward to prevent a perilous outcome for your industry and for the
planet.
I ask that you cease efforts to deny the science of global warming and stop spending
millions of dollars in misleading the public as to the true science behind climate change.
I ask that you embrace the provisions of the Waxman-Markey bill that light the way
ahead for your industry and that provide your industry with billions of dollars of financial
assistance to help you transition to a low carbon economy.
I believe there is a successful future ahead for the coal industry, centered on safer and
cleaner practices for your fuel, for your workers, and for the Earth.
I look forward to your testimony and thank you for coming.

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