What world leaders are saying about coal

Last week, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said “the United States is not going to turn its back on coal,” acknowledging the fuel’s major role in the country’s energy portfolio.

But coal is just as important abroad – in fact, it accounts for 41 percent of the world’s electricity. With less than two months to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, world leaders are talking about how to build a clean energy future around our most stable, abundant and affordable fuel source.

Chu’s full quotation and sound bite, MYNC (10/16): “The United States is not going to turn its back on coal. Fifty percent of our electricity is generated by coal. The industry will not develop that technology, but we have to partner with the industry to develop it.”

Listen to the quote:

President Barack Obama, CNN (10/24): On fossil fuels, including coal: We must figure “out how to use those as cleanly and efficiently as possible.”

Ed Miliband, UK energy and climate change secretary, news release (9/25): “Without CCS there is no solution to climate change. As well as getting things in place in the UK and Europe we need that consensus at the global talks in Copenhagen. The meeting in London will be a pivotal part of moving the discussion on CCS forwards.”

Dipuo Peters, South Africa energy minister, Bloomberg (10/13): “It is very critical that the international community develops financial capacity to assist developing countries [in deploying commercial-scale carbon capture and storage projects],” Peters said. “South Africa is faced by more pressing challenges such as energy poverty.”

Stephen Harper, Canada prime minister, UPI (10/16): Carbon capture and storage "has the potential to help us balance our need for energy with our duty to protect the environment."