K-Fuel The Forst Clean Coal:COAL: House members seek 'clean coal' mention in SOTU (01/25/2008)
Ben Geman, Greenwire senior reporter
More than three dozen House members are urging President Bush to promote increased federal support for "clean coal" programs in his final State of the Union speech Monday evening.
A letter yesterday from a bipartisan group of 39 lawmakers, many from major coal-producing states, touts coal's continued role as a major electricity source and its potential use to make transportation fuels.
"Your forthcoming State of the Union address presents an excellent opportunity to promote increased coal utilization through the further development of clean coal technologies that can provide Americans with a secure source of affordable energy, while managing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy generation efficiency," states the letter from 25 GOP members and 14 Democrats.
The lawmakers include House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), House Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), House Science and Technology Committee ranking member Ralph Hall (R-Texas), and Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), who heads the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee.
The letter urges Bush to call on Congress to expand coal technology programs. The White House will propose its final budget in early February.
The most recent spending bill was a mixed bag for Energy Department research and development programs devoted to using coal while curbing its greenhouse gas emissions.
The catch-all fiscal 2008 spending bill approved late last year included more than $30 million less for the FutureGen program than the White House requested, and also provided slightly less for the Clean Coal Power Initiative than the president asked for.
But the same bill boosted funding for carbon sequestration programs and some other coal-related programs. It also authorizes $6 billion in loan guarantees for coal projects that control carbon dioxide emissions, and $2 billion in loan guarantees for advanced coal gasification projects.
Click here to read the letter.
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