DOE OFFICIAL COUNTERS ‘WAR ON COAL’ CLAIMS DURING HEARING

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
7/26/13

The Department of Energy’s fossil energy chief sought to fend off claims from Republicans on a House Science subcommittee this week that the Obama Administration is coordinating a “war on coal.” Acting Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Chris Smith said during a July 25 hearing before the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Energy that $8 billion in recently-announced loan guarantee authority and nearly $6 billion spent on carbon capture and storage demonstration projects and other DOE Fossil Energy R&D efforts in recent years are indicative of the Administration’s commitment to the fuel source. “That’s categorically not a true statement,” Smith said in response to a question from Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) on whether President Barack Obama is waging a “war on coal.” Smith said, “If you look at the investments that we’ve made since this Administration started … they’re to ensure that this important source of domestic energy continues to be a part of our clean energy economy of the future.”

Smith dodged questions from Republicans who questioned whether upcoming carbon regulations on existing and future power plants would act as a de-facto ban on traditional coal-fired power plants. “I can’t comment on the rule as it’s not yet been published,” Smith responded, adding that DOE’s role related to the upcoming power standards focuses more on ensuring that technologies like CCS are affordable and available rather than designing and promulgating the rulemakings. After Smith said he “could not make a projection for exactly what that cost curve is going to look like” for CCS, Neugebauer responded that the “vagueness” of his answer “leads me to believe that you’re not sure if this technology will be in place and that, in fact, would preclude bringing those plants online.”

Some subcommittee members questioned the value of investing in CCS during the hearing if it could hurt the country’s economic competitiveness. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said CCS’ higher cost compared to traditional coal generation could “push some people below the standard of living.” Smith responded that investing in ‘clean coal’ technologies like CCS now could bring the U.S. ahead of the curve in the long run. “Market forces are going to do what they do, and certainly the emergence of natural gas has had a big impact on coal … but we think it’s important that as we go forward, we’re doing the research to ensure that coal continues to have a role,” Smith said.