NMA, UMWA Partner to Pursue New Federal Carbon Capture and Storage Technology Early Development Fund

NMA Mining Week

NMA and the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) recently unveiled joint support for a new federal fund that would accelerate the early development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of coal-fueled power plants. The support was announced in a March 31 letter sent to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.), House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and other congressional leaders who will play an active role in the climate change debate on Capitol Hill.

NMA and the UMWA “are united in our support of efforts to address global climate change through the accelerated development and deployment of advanced coal technologies,” said the letter from NMA President and CEO Kraig R. Naasz and UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts.

NMA and the UMWA are eager to work with Congress to establish a “Carbon Capture and Storage Early Deployment Fund” that will put “America on the road” to reducing GHG emissions “while securing the livelihoods of more than 100,000 coal miners nationwide,” said the letter. Such a fund would help create new jobs and protect our economy “by advancing coal as a sustainable and affordable source of energy for all,” Naasz and Roberts wrote.

The letter emphasized that coal accounts for 50 percent of America’s electricity generation, with consumer demand for electricity expected to grow by 40 percent over the next two decades. In light of America’s current and future energy needs, the letter stressed that coal, natural gas, nuclear and renewable energy will all be needed to help meet that demand. “For coal, which is America’s most abundant, affordable and accessible source of secure energy, that means developing new technologies to responsibly address GHG emissions.”  Naasz and Roberts wrote that advancing the development, demonstration and commercial deployment of CCS technologies “is vital to our nation’s ability to reduce GHG emissions while utilizing coal to fuel a growing economy.” However, the letter noted that adequate incentives to promote the early development of such technologies do not exist.

The letter said “the lack of a reliable, substantial and sustained source of funding from the federal government, in partnership with industry, exacerbates the problem.” The letter highlighted a recommendation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Advanced Coal Technology Working Group made earlier this year that called on Congress to establish an early deployment CCS fund to raise approximately $1 billion per year in funds to help develop critical CCS technologies. Naasz and Roberts wrote that such a fund “would help accelerate the development and deployment of a suite of advanced energy technologies in various regions of the country while promoting critical mining jobs and preserving coal as an affordable, secure and sustainable source of electric generation.”