Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
5/16/2014
To help ensure the future of coal in the U.S. energy mix, incentives are a better approach to driving carbon capture and sequestration development rather than increased regulation, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) said at a forum hosted by the Global CCS Institute (GCCSI) and the Atlantic Council this week. Heitkamp questioned the new performance standards the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed for new coal-fired power plants, which would largely mandate the use of CCS technology. The regulations have been seen by some as a ban on new coal development. “We’ll turn coal off tomorrow and we will tank the economy. We will tank the American economy,” Heitkamp said.
Instead, Heitkamp said the use of CCS technologies could be better incentivized through funding. “If, in fact, we are going to do what I think we need to do, which is truly believe in an all-of-the-above climate policy, we need to subsidize these technologies,” she said. Heitkamp has sponsored legislation to provide such incentives—the “Advanced Clean Coal Technology Investment in Our Nation (ACCTION) Act” would direct the Energy Department to provide $2 billion in existing loan guarantees for coal projects. Further, the bill would aim to develop large-scale CCS programs to determine the commercial viability of CCS in power generation.
Heitkamp has previously said that strict regulations would halt the progress of CCS toward commercial viability— a point she made in comments recently submitted to the EPA on its proposed New Source Performance Standards. “Understanding that coal will remain a key part of our energy mix well into the future, and that coal-fired power will continue to increase in other parts of the world, it is necessary to encourage investment in advanced emissions reduction technologies and efficiencies as we work towards a goal of CCS as the ultimate standard. This proposed rule does not encourage that needed innovation or investment,” she wrote, adding, “This rule provides no graduated or realistic targets over the long-term, instead it immediately sets a low baseline emissions target that cannot currently be achieved on a large-scale or cost -effectively.”
