Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) made the following opening statement this morning at the Committee on Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Energy & Environment hearing titled “The Future of Coal under Climate Legislation”:

“Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this important hearing.  The future of coal is an issue that must be addressed if we are to succeed in passing meaningful climate change legislation. 

“As we all know, coal currently generates more than 50 percent of the United States’ electricity, and we have hundreds of years of coal reserves.  Realistically, coal must play a significant role in our energy future.  The challenge, however, is to balance the need for dramatically reducing our greenhouse gas emissions with the continuing need for coal to power our nation.  To meet this challenge, legislation must spur development and deployment of Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) technology. China’s and India’s reliance on coal makes the need for this technology that much greater.

“One approach this Committee ­considered at a hearing last year is Mr. Boucher’s Carbon Capture and Storage Early Deployment Act. This bill is based on recommendations put forward last year by the Advanced Coal Technology Work Group, an advisory panel to the EPA.  I urge this Committee to look at this draft legislation when considering broader climate change legislation, although some changes may be appropriate given CCS provisions in the stimulus bill.  Incorporating a large-scale grant program to accelerate the commercial demonstration of CCS and for testing carbon dioxide storage sites is essential to the success of CCS and therefore essential to the success of comprehensive climate change legislation.

“The Committee should also consider the CCS deployment program Representative Boucher and I released last year.  We proposed an incentive system for Carbon Capture & Sequestration technology. Power plants and large emitters that adopt CCS technology early would receive bonus allowances.  A similar incentive system was included in the Blueprint for Action, put forward by US-CAP – an alliance of industry and environmental groups.  Both the Dingell-Boucher draft and the Blueprint for Action couple the incentive program with requirements that ensure that newly permitted coal-fired facilities will employ technology to capture and store carbon emissions.  The date for compliance, however, merits further discussion in my view as we do not yet know when CCS technology can be ready.

“Therefore, in this hearing, I look forward to hearing more about progress being made on CCS technology and the prospects for wide-scale commercial use.  Many questions still need to be answered, including:

• Can we achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions before CCS technologies are ready? 
• Are we doing enough to ensure that these technologies are on track?
• How will carbon stored underground impact our water sources, and
• What happens to CO2 after it is captured?  Who owns it?  Who is responsible for keeping it safe? 

“These are just a few of the important questions that need to be answered about Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technology.  I look forward to hearing from our witnesses and learning more about the future of coal in climate change legislation.”

# # #