"Energy Options: Coal" - Coal's Battle (Part 1)
Monday, October 22, 2007SUZANNE PRATT: The U.S. economy is dependent on energy. As prices for some energy sources like oil head higher, industries look for less expensive options, like coal. Coal is considered cheap and abundant and last year electric utilities bought $27 billion worth of the fossil fuel. Increasing demand for power is expected to fuel coal's growth. Tonight we begin a series of reports looking at coal and the challenges facing the industry. In part one of "Energy Options: Coal" Stephanie Dhue looks at how politics and the environment could darken coal's future.
STEPHANIE DHUE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. is considered the Saudi Arabia of coal. At the current rate of usage, there is about a 230-year supply. Coal now fuels half of the nation's power plants. With oil prices high and concerns about natural gas becoming scarce, utilities are considering coal for future power supply. But coal can be a dirty fuel. The Department of Energy says coal fired power plants account for a third of the nation's carbon dioxide emissions. David Hawkins of the Natural Resources Defense Council says the coal industry hasn't seriously addressed its environmental issues.
DAVID HAWKINS, CLIMATE CENTER DIR., NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: The industry has grand dreams of a big expansion, but I think they are waking up to the fact that they can't survive as an industry if they don't get a handle on global warming pollution.
DHUE: Citing environmental concerns, power companies in North Carolina, Texas and Florida have shelved plans to build coal-fired power plants. Political pressure against coal is building. The energy bill passed by the House this summer requires that private utilities generate 15 percent of their electricity through wind, solar and other renewable sources by 2020. The mining industry recognizes the problem, but National Mining Association President Kraig Naasz says coal is critical to the U.S.
KRAIG NAASZ, PRESIDENT & CEO, NATIONAL MINING ASSOCIATION: You can't simply turn the light out on coal without having a devastating impact on the quality of life and the economy of this country.
DHUE: So the industry is lobbying for more taxpayer money to fund clean coal technology. It's also launching a $30 million ad campaign to build political support for coal.
NAASZ: It's a nationwide communications campaign, but with special weight toward some of the early primary, presidential primary states and probably will be weighted again in key battleground states as we move into the election cycle of 2008.
DHUE: The coal lobby is influential. It draws power from mining communities in 26 states, including important presidential battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. And it has strong ties to the railroads, which earn $11 billion a year moving coal. U.S. utilities also add political muscle. Coal is credited with getting out the mine vote in 2000, in traditionally Democratic-voting West Virginia. That swung the presidential election against Al Gore and his global warming policies. NRDC's Hawkins says coal's political strength is hard to match.
HAWKINS: They have a very broad reach of political clout and what it means is that a policy that is seen as anti-coal has a very difficult job passing in the Congress.
DHUE: The coal mining industry gave more than $12 million to political candidates between 2000 and 2006. Nearly 90 percent went to Republicans. In comparison, over the same time period, solar, wind and geothermal companies gave $1.6 million, 65 percent to Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid recently blasted plans to build coal fired power plants, particularly in his home state of Nevada. He says his decision was made because of the impact on the environment, not politics.
SEN. HARRY REID (D) NEVADA/SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: These utility companies have big shots on their boards of directors. They are able to, with their highly paid public relations people, go around to these communities and say, we have to have this. This is going to help your economy. So I'd probably been better off politically not saying anything, but my conscience says I got to say something because this is wrong, because this is not only a short term issue, it's a long-term issue.
DHUE: The role coal plays in the 2008 election is taking shape. The coal lobby wants a candidate who will emphasizes coal's importance now and help it fund cleaner coal technologies. The environmental lobby wants a candidate who will dig in against coal. Stephanie Dhue, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.
