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Good work everyone! We can breathe a sigh of relief (for now). Two competing amendments were both voted down in the Senate yesterday. Ken Ward, Jr. has the news in Senate rejects liquefied coal:
Controversial proposals to boost the conversion of coal into liquid fuel were rejected in the U.S. Senate Tuesday, after lawmakers and groups that support the idea broke ranks on how to get the job done.
[snip]
Liquid coal could still emerge somewhere as lawmakers finalize the Senate’s version of the energy bill. A Senate Finance Committee package could add liquid coal provisions to the energy bill later this week. Liquid coal could be inserted into the measure during a conference committee.
Sen. Byrd and Sen. Rockefeller did step back from supporting the even less environmentally responsible amendment supported by Sen. Bunning and voted only for the Byrd-Tester amendment.
Byrd and Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., backed an energy bill amendment to provide $10 billion in loans and $200 million in grants to coal-to-liquid fuel plants.
But last week, the Coal-to-Liquids Coalition, an industry-labor group, announced that it would oppose the amendment, authored by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. The group opposed language in the amendment to require coal-to-liquid fuels to meet a 20 percent reduction in overall greenhouse emissions, and to capture and sequester at least 85 percent of the greenhouse emissions.
Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., offered a rival amendment to require a share of U.S. transportation fuel each year, starting in 2016, to come from coal-to-liquid products. Opponents said it wasn’t a bad idea, but noted Bunning did not spell out how the goal would be met.
As a vote on both amendments approached, several members of the Coal-to-Liquids Coalition — including the United Mine Workers — said Monday that the group did not speak for them when it opposed the Tester-Byrd amendment. They announced their support for that proposal. On Tuesday morning, the National Mining Association responded with a letter supporting Bunning’s language.
By mid-afternoon, though, both amendments were voted down. First, senators rejected the Bunning amendment by a 55-39 vote. Byrd and Rockefeller both voted against it. Then, senators turned down the Tester-Byrd amendment on a 61-33 vote. Byrd and Rockefeller voted for it.
Our fight is far from over--there's too much money interests involved.
For the coal industry, the stakes are huge. To replace 10 percent of U.S. oil demand with liquid coal would require a 42 percent increase in coal production, according to a report from the National Coal Council, a federal government advisory group.
That amounts to 475 million tons of coal a year, or about three times West Virginia’s annual production.
Never mind the negative impact of liquid coal itself, can you imagine the pressure increased demand for coal would put on expanding Mountain Top Removal? It's scary to think what the negative social and environmental impact would be of doubling or tripling coal production in West Virginia. We'll keep you posted on the coal industry's continued efforts to push for Liquid Coal. Meanwhile, for today at least, pat yourself on the back and savor this one small victory.
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