President Obama is giving his State of the Union address tomorrow and members of Congress are preparing their responses. We know that the dominant theme with both Republicans and Democrats will be job creation and economic growth.
That’s why the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity is now running ads nationwide, outlining the fact that affordable energy through coal will help businesses create jobs and help our country compete in a 21st century global economy.
In a recent letter to the editor of The Terre Haute Tribune-Star, ACCCE President and CEO Steve Miller outlines the importance of coal-based electricity and why it is critical to America’s economic well-being:
First, coal helps keep electricity affordable. Four of five states with the lowest retail electricity costs use coal to generate 80 percent or more of their electricity.
Second, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts world coal consumption will increase by 49 percent from 2006-2030. That’s why investing in clean coal technologies is so important. Thanks, in large part, to clean coal technology, major air pollutants from coal-fueled power plants are more than 80 percent lower (per kilowatt hour of electricity generated) than 30 years ago.
For more information on how keeping electricity prices low helps American businesses, click here.
Today, President Obama is traveling to Schenectady, New York, the birthplace of General Electric (GE), to deliver a speech focused on growing our economy and creating jobs through clean energy development. The President will also announce his appointment of GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt as the chairman of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.
Along with several other ACCCE member companies, GE is working on developing clean coal technology projects that can make America more competitive in a global market. In a Washington Post op-ed today, Immelt explains how GE is investing in energy and other sectors, using innovation to grow business:
President Obama has asked me to chair his new President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. I have served for the past two years on the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and I look forward to leading the next phase of this effort as we transition from recovery to long-term growth. The president and I are committed to a candid and full dialogue among business, labor and government to help ensure that the United States has the most competitive and innovative economy in the world … Businesses should invest more of their cash and resources in advanced products and technologies that will create jobs in the United States, and government should incentivize this investment in innovation. Today, GE is investing more than ever in research and development – about 6 percent of revenue – aimed at solving challenges in transportation, energy and health care.
Yet innovation isn’t the only way coal is key to America’s competitiveness. The affordability of coal in relation to other sources of energy provides businesses with a reliable supply of electricity that can put our economy back on track. In fact, four of the five states in the nation with the lowest retail electricity costs reply upon coal to generate 80 percent or more of their electricity. And because America has more reserves of recoverable coal within its borders than any other country, finding ways to use coal more efficiently promotes greater domestic energy security, a critical component to the stability of our economy.
Click here for a map where you can see more on the advanced coal technology innovations happening across the country.
Officials from the Chinese government – including China’s President Hu Jintao – arrived in DC yesterday for a week of talks with our government. When it comes to coal, the two countries got straight to business.
Two days ago, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu joined representatives of the Chinese government to advance and expand cooperation on the U.S-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC). Among other things, CERC focuses on advance coal technologies such as carbon capture and storage. This comes just over one year after Presidents Obama and Hu agreed to establishing CERC with the initial research priorities being “energy efficiency, clean coal including carbon capture and storage, and clean vehicles”
Yesterday, President Obama mentioned the Clean Energy Research Center in his opening remarks at a joint press conference with President Hu:
It’s not just the American and Chinese governments working together to make sure that coal is a part of a balanced energy portfolio. Companies from both countries are working together to create jobs with coal-based electricity. Just yesterday, the White House announced that ACCCE member company Peabody Energy will be working with a Chinese firm on advanced coal technologies:
Peabody Energy has inked two deals with Chinese companies to develop coal mines and coal-powered electric plants there. The White House announced the projects as part of China’s President Hu Jintao’s visit to the U.S. and an agreement announced Wednesday for China to buy $45 billion in U.S. exports. Peabody’s first memorandum of understanding is with the China Huaneng Group to develop a “clean coal electricity generation project with carbon capture” in the Xilinguole League Prefecture, White House officials said. The project would include a large surface coal mine and technology to convert carbon dioxide into cement-like building materials, White House officials said.
American Electric Power Co signed an agreement with China’s largest power company, China Huaneng Group to evaluate carbon capture technology that could be used in power plants in the United States. American Electric also signed an agreement with State Grid Corp of China to jointly evaluate energy-storage, smart-meter and other technologies, the energy department said.
The private sector and public sector of both the United States and China are recognizing that advanced coal technologies create jobs and economic benefits by using one of the world’s most abundant and affordable energy sources. ACCCE studies show that investments into advanced coal technologies could create over 150,000 jobs across 30 states, and that taxpayers gain $13 in economic benefits for every dollar the government invests in those technologies.
These are facts that Secretary Chu recognized in a Huffington Post piece yesterday:
While the United States is competing for leadership in energy innovation, we have much to gain by cooperating with China. Together, we can develop and test new technologies, accelerate their deployment, and bring down their costs. We can boost exports and create new jobs. We can enhance energy security and cut pollution. And we can build a sustainable energy future for the U.S., for China and for the world.
Like Chu, legislators and governors in the states are looking for ways energy investments can create new jobs. As the State of the Union approaches and we begin to see the Administration and Congress’ energy and economic priorities take shape for the year, come back to Behind the Plug to learn how coal will help power it all.
Lisa Camooso Miller Vice President
Media Relations
Lisa Camooso Miller is ACCCE's vice president for media relations. She oversees ACCCE's earned media implementation and strategic planning and appears regularly in print, radio and on national television. For more than 15 years, Lisa has been a notable communications leader in public affairs, holding key positions in local, state and federal government, political campaigns and committees, as well as advocacy organizations. She is a native of Wayside, New Jersey, and holds an M.A. in corporate and public communications from Monmouth University, and a B.A. in communications from The College of New Jersey. Lisa and her husband Jason have two children and live in Northern Virginia.
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Bianca Prade Vice President
Digital Strategy
Bianca Prade is ACCCE's vice president of digital strategy, and leads new and traditional media strategies to increase the public’s awareness of the importance of coal-based electricity. She has more than a decade of communications and marketing experience, launching and maintaining interactive Web content for major corporations, trade associations and government agencies. Bianca lives with her husband and two children in Northern Virginia. She graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of Maryland at College Park and an M.A. in interactive communications from American University.
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Robert M. "Mike" Duncan President & CEO
Mike Duncan is the president and CEO for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and promoting the use of coal – a proven American energy source that keeps electricity affordable and reliable for millions of American families and businesses. In this role, he leads ACCCE’s efforts to keep coal at the forefront of energy policy in America and informs and educates for coal in Congress, statehouses and in communities all across the country.
He comes to ACCCE with a background and commitment to coal and clean coal technology. Serving on the campaigns of five U.S. presidents and working with elected officials at every level and in all political parties, he has served as board member and chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority; assistant director of the Office of Public Liaison in The White House; chairman of the American Crossroads 527 committee; and chairman of the Republican National Committee. He has served in various roles with the U.S.-China High Level Political Party Leaders Dialogue, the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships and the Center for Rural Development.
Duncan is chairman and CEO of the Inez Deposit Bank in Eastern Kentucky and has served with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Cincinnati branch and the Kentucky Bankers Association. A resident of the Bluegrass State of Kentucky, he holds degrees from Cumberland College and the University of Kentucky College of Law.
Evan Tracey Former Senior Vice President for Communications
Evan is Senior Vice President for Communications, overseeing the strategy on how to communicate the importance of electricity from coal and the value of investments in clean coal technology. Tracey has served as president of Campaign Media Analysis Group, a Kantar Media company, since he founded the company in 1997. He has two decades of political, legislative and issue research experience and has provided strategic media analysis for a number of trade associations, foundations, Fortune 500 companies, political party committees, the national press, academic institutions, as well as hundreds of national, statewide and local political campaigns. He received a M.A. from George Mason University and a B.A. from West Virginia Wesleyan College. Tracey lives with his wife and 3 children in Virginia.
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Steve Gates Former Director
National Communications
Steve Gates, as ACCCE’s national communications director, helps direct the industry’s national media campaigns and digital communications efforts. He has more than 15 years of media relations experience in a variety of settings including Capitol Hill press secretary, as well as directing media and outreach programs for international trade associations, the Fortune 200 and federal government programs. Steve lives with his wife, a coal miner’s daughter, and three children in Omaha, Nebraska. Steve graduated with a B.S. in political science from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and an M.A. in public communications from American University in Washington, D.C.
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The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is committed to the idea that America can have the affordable, reliable electricity we need, with the clean environment we want. ACCCE’s Behind the Plug blog is the place for up-to-date news and analysis on clean coal technology developments and energy policy progress.
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The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is committed to the idea that America can have the affordable, reliable electricity we need, with the clean environment we want. ACCCE’s Behind the Plug blog is the place for up-to-date news and analysis on clean coal technology developments and energy policy progress.