Remarks by
U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson
to the
National Coal Council
Semi-Annual Meeting
Washington, DC
May 18, 1999

Linn (Draper, Chairman of the Council) and other members of the National Coal Council, it is a pleasure to join you this morning.

I spent the weekend in Alaska, flying over a lot of Beluga coal as I traveled in and out of Fairbanks. Then yesterday, it was on to Colorado, then back to Dulles last night.

That's a lot of time in the air. But it gave me an opportunity to think about my remarks to you this morning, and to consider how much has changed - and how much has stayed the same - since I was a Congressman from New Mexico in the early 1980s. Those were the days of "synfuels," and New Mexico's coal producers had a big stake in the future as people saw it then. Big plants, big markets, and bright prospects. But that future didn't happen. And that disappointed a lot of my constituents - and friends - in New Mexico and elsewhere.

But look what has happened in the last decade or so. Yes, there have been changes in the coal industry -- restructuring, mergers, turnovers in ownership. There have been new challenges -- new Clean Air regulations being the most significant. But in the face of all of this, America's coal companies in 1999 will produce more coal than ever before. And America will consume more coal than ever in its history.

This is an industry that understands the critical nature of fortitude. You know how to persevere through the highs and lows - how to brush yourself off after a fight, and to look to the next challenge - how to keep one eye looking over your shoulder, yet keep the other eye looking out over the horizon.

That's why I'm pleased to join you here this morning for our first face-to-face meeting. You understand your significance to this nation and its energy and economic future. And I'm here today to tell you that I, too, understand your significance. That's why I'm committing to you this morning that I'm going to use this Council in helping develop our energy policies and strategies. I'm going to seek your advice. And I'm going to put my long-range stamp of approval on coal as an integral part of America's national energy portfolio.

Coal is a central mechanism in America's economic energy machine. You cited this aspect in your study -- Coal's Role in Achieving Economic Growth and Environmental Stability - for which I want to thank and commend you. We've looked at your conclusions and recommendations. Let me speak to a few of them, because I think they speak to the reason why I'm here today.

There is little argument to the reality that coal will remain an essential energy component in the economic development of the U.S. and the world.

But this prospect exists in a changing environment. Coal's role in American energy generation has changed dramatically - and today, we are perhaps facing the most challenging of environments. We're looking at more stringent air regulations, and we are seeing more and more vividly the impact that greenhouse gases have on our environment. At the same time, we're looking at ways to electrify the globe, which leads us back to coal and coal use. I've been to South Africa and talked to international regulators, pushing electrification plans that will require more coal and further coal technologies. But while we can embrace the reality of coal's continued role as a fossil fuel of choice, we must continue to embrace technological advance in the use of coal.

I don't see our support of alternative energy sources - solar, wind, biomass, geothermal - as being in competition with coal or other fossil fuels. I see them as complements - as part of a domestic energy portfolio that can reduce our need to import fuels and strengthen our long range energy security.

But let there be no doubt about it - coal is, and will likely remain, this country's most abundant and lowest cost fuel, especially for power generation. It is why we enjoy the lowest cost electricity of any industrialized economy. And the prospects for technology advances for coal are just as bright as those for solar or wind or geothermal.

We've invested heavily in clean coal technologies - an investment that is paying off. In the 1980s, the technology to reduce nitrogen oxides - which cause smog and acid rain - cost almost $3,000 dollars for every ton of "NOx" reduced. Today, because of R&D efforts and the Department of Energy's Clean Coal program, U.S. power companies have NOx-reduction technology that costs only $200 per ton - more than a 10-fold reduction. One-half of the coal-burning plants in America are now equipped with this technology. Within the next year or so, that figure will be 3 out of 4.

I will continue to push for government-industry arrangements to advance technologies and the profile of clean electric generation. You recommended this in your report, and I can't agree with you more forcefully.

You have in front of you a copy of our research plan for coal. We just published it. You're one of the first to get copies. It outlines our strategy and programs for coal and electric power systems. It sets some bold targets.

For example, we believe it is possible to develop a virtually pollution-free, coal-fired power plant within the next 15 years or so. No air pollutants. No landfill wastes. A plant that doubles the amount of electricity we can currently extract from coal and produces other commercial products as well.

But even that plant takes us just so far. We believe there is more that we must do to keep coal in our energy future over the truly long term. That is where carbon sequestration enters the picture.

If we put Kyoto aside for a moment, and look at the really long term - 30, 50 or 70 years into the future - carbon sequestration could offer one of the best options for reducing the buildup of greenhouse gases, not only in this country but in China, India and elsewhere. It is the only climate change option that won't require a wholesale changeover in our energy infrastructure.

Now, sequestration research and development is in its first year of real federal funding at the Energy Department. We're just getting started -- but already we're seeing ideas that were just idle curiosities a year or so ago begin to attract real attention in both government and industry.

Exhausted oil and gas reservoirs could store much of the carbon captured from power generation for most of the 21st Century. Coal seams are an option. So too are deep, unusable saltwater aquifers. And the ocean floor, which is the world's largest repository of dissolved CO2, represents a literal sea of possibility.

This is a whole new area of research for us - but it's going to get a higher priority in our program as we move forward.

Now, I know that some of you have wondered , "how can this futuristic technology help me better my business today?"

Well, for one thing, it places the coal industry squarely on the side of looking over the horizon for answers, rather than just looking over your shoulder. It makes you part of the solution rather than part of the problem. And that's important in the way your industry is viewed - in the short-term.

Let me be clear - all of us need to start working together on these issues. It's heavy lifting time, and we need to join forces - not divide them.

Future concepts such as a pollution-free power plant and carbon sequestration offer exciting possibilities. But they run up against other priorities. The pie is only so big. I need your help in getting these new ideas through the process. They won't go anywhere if the industry that has the most at stake isn't standing behind them.

So work with me. Advise me. Tell me where you think we're wrong, but also tell us -- and others -- where you think we are right. Together, we can shape a dynamic coal future; but separately, we are too many scattered embers to ignite a lasting spark.