Obama’s enviro adviser says coal is here to stay

As you’ve heard us say before, coal will continue to be a vital part of our energy mix in the future.

But don’t take it from us. Listen to Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

As President Obama’s chief environmental adviser, Sutley tells it like it is. “Clearly coal is a part of our energy mix now and it’s likely to be so in the future,” she said. “But even if we were to stop using coal tomorrow, it’s used around the world and we have to deal with its environmental impacts.”

Sutley specifically mentioned carbon capture and sequestration as a “promising” technology that will help stem carbon dioxide emissions, and urged people to support clean coal technology.

“Investing in the technology, investing in innovation in how coal is used to produce electricity, is very important not only for our country and our economy but really for the entire world,” she said. “We can be a leader in providing the innovation and research that will get us to be able to deal with the effects of burning coal and try to address carbon capture and sequestration. These are important technologies that we’re going to need.”

Haven’t we been saying that all along?

Check out Sutley’s video and her interview transcript. She talks about the climate bill, what it’s like to be the environmental top banana and Obama’s clean energy projects.