The First Anniversary of America's Power

Exactly one year ago, we launched the America's Power campaign.

Our campaign is all about being a source of information for Americans regarding the security of their energy future, as well as the progress we’re making here in the U.S. and around the world in advanced technologies to reduce emissions and protect the environment.

We see that clean coal will play an essential role in meeting America’s future energy needs. I think what we’ve been seeing in the current presidential campaign—as Senators Obama and McCain (along with the other candidates running for office) talk up the future of clean coal—is indicative of a much larger conversation that is going on all across the country.

More and more, people seem to understand that increasing our reliance on America’s coal reserves to meet growing energy demand not only helps promote energy security and keeps energy costs low, but that it doesn’t have to come at the expense of the environment.

For the last 35 years, we’ve increased the use of American coal to meet growing energy needs, kept energy costs affordable and used new technologies to reduce emissions. We can do that going forward—including the capture and storage of CO2 as a means of addressing climate change concerns.

And we’re just getting started. We will continue to further the discussion on the role clean coal will play in building America’s energy future.

Comments

[Rick Thomas]

Hello, I recently heard about your site and am excited to watch it grow, as clean coal matures and meets the demands of our great country.

I have been following a small company called ThermoEnergy that has developed a cutting edge clean coal technology called "TIPS" (ThermoEnergy Integrated Power System) that combines the combustion of carbonaceous fuels with essentially complete recovery (+99%) of all by-products.

We need to get behind promising technologies like this and rid ourselves of Middle East oil dependancy.

[shane vanderhoff]

what do you mean clean coal. all burning of fossil fuels--oil, natural gas, or coal generates large amounts of carbon dioxide--and contributes hugely to global warming. so this sound like baloney.

[Kelly Beninga]

You wrote "Our campaign is all about being a source of information for Americans regarding the security of their energy future, as well as the progress we’re making here in the U.S. and around the world in advanced technologies to reduce emissions and protect the environment."

What a bunch of baloney. Your true mission is to protect the sales of the coal industry by promoting coal as clean, when in fact it is the dirtiest fuel on the planet. No clean coal plants exist, yet you talk about them as if they are on every street corner. That is downright lying.

If you really wanted to protect the environment, you would be promoting an immediate stop to new coal construction until they stop spewing CO2.

[Brenton Clark]

While by all accounts I've seen the technology to capture carbon from burning coal is years away from commercial viability, the clean coal movement has done nothing to improve coal extraction. Coal mining is still a highly dangerous occupation, and the environmental degredation it causes is appalling. Until there is a "clean" way to extract coal, I will not support "clean coal" and will urge those I know not to do so either.