August 1, 2011

Coal: A Key Part of Our Clean Energy Future

By Steve Miller

With the U.S. economy still struggling, few things are as important as having an abundant, reliable supply of energy to help drive our recovery. Many American families are hurting and our businesses are being challenged to create new jobs. That’s why federal, state, and local public policies must balance the need for broader economic prosperity, greater energy security, and a cleaner environment. Coal and clean coal technology can play vital roles and must be at the center of this public debate.

Coal Is Essential and Affordable

Today, nearly half of our nation’s electricity is generated by coal. As our nation’s largest source of domestically produced fuel, coal is essential to rebuilding our nation’s economy and protecting U.S. jobs, while keeping electricity reliable and affordable for our families and businesses. America—and, indeed, the world—continues to “electrify” the way we live, and that electrification contributes significantly to a higher standard of living.

Coal is not only the dominant source of American electricity now; it also will remain so for decades to come. Just this April, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its 2011 Annual Energy Outlook report, which underscored the long-term contribution that coal-fueled electricity will make to our economy and the quality of life for millions of Americans. The EIA projected that, absent overly stringent new federal regulations, total megawatts generated from coal will increase by 25% from 2009 to 2035 and coal will generate 43% of America’s electricity by 2035.

Electricity from coal is affordable, and that is a crucial fact for millions of U.S. families and businesses. The one-half of American families earning $50,000 per year or less, on average, pay about 22% of their after-tax income for energy costs (home heating and cooling, and transportation). That percentage has risen steadily over the past decade. An American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) report notes that the one-in-10 families in our nation earning $10,000 or less annually pay, on average, about 70% of after-tax income for energy.

Coal Is a Strategic Asset for America

The U.S.’s abundant, domestic supply of coal is a strategic asset for national and energy security in an unstable world. America’s recoverable coal reserves exceed those of any other country and represent one-quarter of the world’s total coal supply. The U.S. has 272 billion tons of coal reserves and currently uses about 1.1 billion tons per year. At this consumption rate, America’s coal reserves would last nearly 250 years.

The energy in U.S. recoverable coal reserves alone is roughly equal to that of the world’s known oil reserves. The power held in our nation’s coal reserves is critical to limiting, to the greatest degree possible, the need to rely on other countries for our energy supply.