Download coal use and climate change - Colorado Mining Association

COAL USE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
We’ve all heard of “climate change” or “global warming.” Global warming is
the theory that increased levels of greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide or
CO2, trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere, causing ocean levels to rise and other effects,
such as decreased rainfall, or snow melts at higher elevations in Colorado. Yet the earth
has always been in a state of change. The hot, humid conditions that created swamps and
rainforests disappeared as various cooling periods, including the Ice Age, took place.
The moderate warming period we currently enjoy established itself in the 1860s.
Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) come from both natural and manmade
sources, and there is continued debate on the extent to which human activities influence
climate change. The bulk of greenhouse gas emissions – more than 99 per cent - occur
naturally – mostly from the release of water vapor from the oceans. Less than one per
cent results from human activity. While some scientists believe that human activities
may result in catastrophic changes to the earth’s climate, i. e. hurricane activity, other
respected scientists, including Dr. William Gray of Colorado State University, confirm
that the hurricane activity of 2005 did not result from global warming. Fears over rising
ocean levels are also not supported by science, according to Dr. Patrick Michaels,
Research Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia. Dr. Roger
Pielke, a respected climate scientist at CSU, also notes that, even if the United States
were to embrace mandatory restrictions on greenhouse gases, the positive effects might
not be felt for generations. For this reason, careful evaluation of the impacts of the
various policy choices in dealing with global warming is required.
The principal man made sources are emissions of CO2 from mobile sources (cars
and trucks, for example) and power plants that use coal and other fossil fuels to generate
electricity. As a result, some have suggested either the elimination of coal use for the
generation of electricity or regulations that would mandate reductions in carbon dioxide
from these sources through a “carbon tax” or other “emissions cap.” Regulating CO2 through emissions caps or carbon taxes - as a means of addressing climate change
concerns is ineffective and comes at a huge cost to the economies of our nation and of
Colorado.
Carbon Taxes would have a severe impact in Colorado
In Colorado alone, the costs of achieving greenhouse gas emissions through
command and control measure would harm our economy and raise the cost of producing
coal, our lowest cost, most reliable and abundant energy fuel, by more than $18 billion.
As coal is the fuel that is used to generate more than 72% of Colorado’s electricity, these
increased costs would translate into dramatically higher electricity rates. Colorado’s
coal industry – which generates nearly $1 billion in direct sales and pays average wages
in excess of $91,000 annually to its workers – would also be adversely affected.
Climate Change Is A Global Problem Requiring A Global Solution
CO2 regulation through taxation or mandatory regulation is ineffective because
most of the projected growth in emissions will occur in countries with rapidly-developing
economies (China, India, and others). For instance, the Kyoto Treaty to which some
European nations have subscribed, will only decrease carbon dioxide by 483 million tons
per year, while new emissions from China alone (one of the countries not subject to the
Treaty) will increase from between 844 and 1,926 million tons per year. And, nations
which have committed to the Treaty are learning that they cannot meet its reductions
without adverse impact to their economies. Thus far, proposed international agreements
to reduce emissions have exempted these developing countries from taking action.
Moreover, analysis by the Energy Information Administration during the Clinton
Administration found that regulating CO2 could cost the U.S economy more than $350
billion a year (beginning in the year 2010).
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Developing Nations Dwarf Kyoto “Savings”
Climate Policies Must Focus On Voluntary Technology Based Solutions To
Balance The Economic Impacts
Given these high costs, if you think there is a better way to responsibly address
climate change concerns ... you're right. America continues to invest in technologies that
will improve efficiencies and reduce the carbon intensity in the energy sector. And we
can't overlook nature's potential role in helping balance the growth in atmospheric
concentrations of CO2. Sequestration is the process by which carbon is captured and
stored before it is emitted into the atmosphere. Sequestration is a part of the natural
carbon cycle. Independent research shows that helping natural carbon reservoirs (like
plants, forests, and soils) to more productively capture and store carbon can effectively
help reduce CO2 concentrations, improve soil quality and plant yields ... all without the
high cost of regulation.
The realization that coal will need to remain a part of America's energy future,
however, has led many experts to believe that sequestration, in the near-term, can provide
the bridge necessary for the development and deployment of new carbon-neutral energy
technologies - such as FutureGen, the demonstration of the first zero-pollution, carbonneutral coal-based energy facility.
Climate Policies Must Encourage Reliance On Coal, The Nation’s Most
Abundant Energy Fuel
The United States has more than 27% of the world’s coal reserves – natural gas
is much more scarce and the cost of producing electricity from natural gas is more than
double the cost of coal.
Our energy policy must encourage and maximize the
consumption of electricity from domestic sources and not rely on foreign and politically
unstable areas of the world to meet our basic energy needs. Climate policies must be
enlightened and focus on developing the technologies to reduce carbon emissions, not
costly mandates.
What we are doing here in Colorado
Colorado Mining Association member companies are working individually and
with other industries to develop and employ energy efficiency and new technology to
reduce greenhouse gases while continuing to supply coal, our most abundant fossil fuel
resource, to utility plants nationwide. CMA has also developed a first of its kind
Pollution Prevention Program where companies achieve recognition for their efforts in
protecting the environment, reducing chemical use, and controlling greenhouse gas
emissions, just to name a few examples. In 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency
recognized the CMA program with a Friend of EPA Award.
CMA also supports statewide initiatives to study greenhouse gas emissions and
how they might impact Colorado. Finally, CMA, our utility customers and the
environmental community have worked together to promote clean air legislation,
including the recently enacted House Bill 06-1281, which will authorize the Public
Utilities Commission to approve the first Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle
(IGCC) power plant, using an exciting yet unproven technology that will bring us closer
to producing zero emissions electricity from coal. This legislation would authorize Xcel
Energy to submit bids to the Department of Energy to test this technology in a high
altitude environment.