Pro-coal lawmakers cheer federal carbon capture report

“The CCS Task Force report confirms that there is an urgent need for CCS technology to reduce emissions, secure coal’s future, and boost West Virginia’s economy,” said Rockefeller, an ally of his home state’s coal industry, in a prepared statement.

Rockefeller touted his legislation to expand funding and other incentives for CCS projects, and noted that the report provides a suite of recommendations that can proceed in the absence of climate legislation.

“This report furthers my view that there is plenty we can do to advance CCS right now, in the near-term, even as the larger debate about climate policy takes place over time,” he said.

House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) and Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) also applauded the recommendations.

“This report again shows that coal, our most abundant domestic energy resource, is a viable part of our energy future,” Costello said. “The coal reserves in my home state of Illinois contain more BTUs [British Thermal Units] than the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. We must make significant investments in clean technology to continue using coal as efficiently and cleanly as possible, and Carbon Capture and Storage technology has increasing promise and market forces are showing it can be competitive.”