Our role at the conventions

With the DNC and RNC conventions coming up, ACCCE is prepared to play a big role. We’ll be on the ground in both locations, reminding delegates about the important role coal can play in our clean energy future.

With that in mind, the Politico has an interesting story today about groups sponsoring the upcoming DNC and RNC conventions.

They interviewed me, and here’s what they wrote:

“We started this conversation with policymakers and the American public in 2000,” said Joe Lucas, the coalition’s vice president of communications. “We’ve significantly turned up the volume on that conversation in the last year.”

And the coalition figured, what better place to go to continue that conversation than at the conventions?

In billboards and other ads, the coalition will argue that the coal-based electricity industry can help keep jobs at home, reduce costs for consumers and — with more research — find its own tidy spot in an environmentally cleaner energy future.

“Clean coal means the next president won’t have to choose between the economy and the environment,” concluded Lucas, adding that both Barack Obama and John McCain already see coal in the nation’s future energy industry.

This will be the coalition’s first appearance at the two political conventions. But Denver is clearly the group’s best shot at a breakthrough moment.

More Support for Clean Coal Posted by Joe Lucas on 08/18/2008 3:17:20 PM

This week, Professor Stanford Levin of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville wrote a spot-on op-ed detailing his views on clean coal. Levin wrote that:

“The industry has been spending money to develop better coal technology, but making the burning of coal truly clean will require some research support from the government. Why is this? Why can't the industry just do it?

Research to develop clean coal technology is expensive, and it requires more money than any one company is able to commit.”

That’s exactly what we’ve been saying here all along. He also makes sound observations on electric cars, renewable energy and energy security.

Now, before anyone questions Mr. Levin’s expertise, they should know he has consulted on energy issues for over 30 years and served on the Illinois Commerce Commission, the agency that regulates electric and gas utilities.

It’s always great when someone voices their support for CCT – especially when that person is well-informed on the issues at hand. So let’s listen to people like Mr. Levin and make sure we keep putting dollars into clean coal technology – our energy future depends on it.

Finding room for agreement Posted by Joe Lucas on 08/12/2008 2:19:03 PM

Cathy Zoi, the CEO of the Alliance for Climate Protection who occasionally blogs at the Huffington Post, wrote yesterday that coal “can also play a significant role by capturing and storing their carbon emissions safely. Our hope is that this CCS emissions technology can be developed and commercialized quickly.”

Now… I don’t agree with Zoi on a lot of issues. (Click here for a broader look at our reaction to her group’s energy plan, put forward by Al Gore last month.) But I do agree with this particular point.

Coal provides half of America’s electricity generation, so of course it has an important role to play. I tend to repeat myself, but… as a result of our commitment to clean, today’s coal-based generating fleet is 70 percent cleaner on the basis of regulated emissions per unit of energy produced. And we’re not done yet!

The Candidates on Coal Posted by Joe Lucas on 08/06/2008 11:07:12 AM

Energy is the theme on the campaign trail this week.

While McCain was stumping in the Midwest and touring a nuclear plant, Obama on Monday declared this week as “Energy Week,” and announced his energy plan. Both candidates’ have voiced their support for clean coal technology, and their respective energy plans include funding for more research and development.

And while everyone is focusing on oil and offshore drilling, we would point out that America has more coal than oil. Converting to hybrid plug-in cars and powering them with electricity from clean coal is a path to energy independence. The next president will have to be firmly committed to provide the resources needed to get us there.

We believe, as many experts do, that $2 billion a year is needed to fund carbon capture and storage research. Once carbon capture and storage is deployed, our coal-generating plants will be close to emissions free.

That means we can use an abundant American resource for affordable electricity – and use it more cleanly than ever before, and rely less on foreign energy sources.

But what are you hearing in the candidates’ plans that you like or don’t like? Are they giving enough attention and focus to our most abundant energy resource and the technology we need to use it more cleanly?.

What would you say to them?

Coal Still the Cheapest Power Source Despite Increases Posted by Joe Lucas on 08/05/2008 5:34:11 PM

It seems everything costs more these days. Milk, eggs, gas and even coal – the price of each of these commodities has risen in the last few months.

And as we all know, the media loves to point this stuff out. There are articles and news reports like this one nearly everyday, telling us that as the price of fuel goes, so go our electric bills.

But one important fact is often left out, which is that even with price increases coal is still by far our cheapest full source. Here’s how some of our major energy sources stack up based on the average cost in dollars per million Btu for 2007 (annual average for the full year):

Coal — $1.78
Petroleum liquids — $9.21
Natural gas — $7.45

(You can take a look for yourself at www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm.pdf)

Numbers like these make it clear that we need to continue to develop carbon capture and clean coal technologies. Finding better ways to use our most affordable and abundant fuel source will not only help us keep America running, it will help ease the costs of doing so.

All New Technologies Take Time to Develop Posted by Joe Lucas on 07/29/2008 2:47:37 PM

A favorite sound bite from critics of the coal industry is that CCT and carbon sequestration aren’t viable energy solutions because they will take too long to develop. When pressed for an alternative, these critics repeat a mantra of their own: more wind, more solar.

And they’re right. We’re going to need every resource we’ve got to meet our future energy needs – wind and solar included. But just like clean coal technology, these renewables also need time for development. As we’ve discussed here before, we’re a long way from mass implementation of wind and solar power – there are still some kinks to work out.

Just this week it was announced that Oregon regulators have approved construction of a new wind farm that developers say could be the world’s largest. The only problem? They don’t know when it will be operational. 

As we said, these things take time.

ACCCE Response to the Huffington Post: Stick to the Facts Posted by Joe Lucas on 07/28/2008 3:42:07 PM

The Huffington Post yesterday chose to address workplace safety issues in the U.S. coal mining industry in light of the release of the federal investigative agency's report on the Crandall Canyon accident and mine safety by posting a blog.  Amazingly they chose to highlight this blog by posting an illustration of a coal miner being crucified, similarly to that of Jesus Christ.

What the Huffington Post is trying so callously to imply is their own personal opinion that the mining industry is not committed to safety.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  If one looks at the facts, one clearly sees that the coal mining industry has made great strides in improving worker safety and, in fact today, has a safety record that rivals the manufacturing, retail, and even health care industries.  That said, everyone agrees that one accident is one too many and that is why the coal industry is committed to further improvements in worker safety aimed at achieving a zero-accident frequency.

We mourn with the families of those nine miners who were taken from us in an untimely fashion. We hope that the Huffington Post will join us in our grief and respect those families by removing this illustration from their site.

The Rising Burden of Energy Costs On Minority Families Posted by Joe Lucas on 07/25/2008 1:32:29 PM

Did you know that energy costs for the average U.S. household since 2001 have more than doubled? Or that rising energy costs are disproportionately impacting minority households?

Those are the findings of a new study we released today.

Click here to take a look at the full study.

A look back at Al Gore on Meet the Press Posted by Joe Lucas on 07/22/2008 12:00:22 PM

A day after Al Gore faced questions from Tom Brokaw on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” let’s look back and see how it went.

As the transcript shows, here are some of Brokaw’s questions and statements:

• “What you have outlined, in fact, is a goal that may not be achievable.”
• “What would electricity cost in terms of the transition while it's under way?  Most estimates are that it would cost a lot more money, and that would have a devastating effect on Main Street and especially on rural America.”
• “There's going to have to be some pain, some sacrifice on the part of the American taxpayer, isn't there?”

Those are good points to bring up. But of course, we had a couple other questions we wish would have been asked too.

Questions for Al Gore on Meet the Press Posted by Joe Lucas on 07/18/2008 9:34:07 PM

When I heard that Tom Brokaw will interviewing Al Gore on Sunday's "Meet the Press," I asked for help coming up with questions to ask the former vice president about his energy plan.

I got some good suggestions and put together what I think are the three most important questions I'd like to see Gore answer. I've listed them below, along with questions written by the folks at Gristmill. As you'll see, we agreed on one question and differed on two others.

Collaborating with Gristmill is a good step toward opening a dialogue that sticks to the facts rather than on baseless accusations.

A joint question for Al Gore from Grist and ACCCE:

1. How did you come up with the year 2018 as a hard-cap goal for total renewable electricity generation? Is that goal scientifically based? What research did you use?

ACCCE questions:

1. Renewables are great — we SHOULD increase their use. But they don't provide baseload power — that is, we need electricity 24-hours per day, not just during the hours when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. How would you address baseload power concerns?

2. How do you balance your environmental goals with the current economic climate in which Americans cannot afford increases in electricity prices?

Grist questions:

1. What practical measures will we take to get to zero emission electricity in 10 years? Let's say Congress passes a resolution to aim for carbon-neutral electricity in 10 years, what would be the next step?

2. Is there room in your plan for private investment? Or, would the installation of a modern electric grid become a completely public undertaking?