Oct. 14, 2005
 
Byrd Supports Manchin’s Initiative on State’s Role in New National Energy Strategy
 
By HNN Staff
 
Washington, DC (HNN) – U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., issued the following statement on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2005, in support of Gov. Joe Manchin’s announcement of a coal initiative as part of a new comprehensive state energy policy. Byrd pledged to work with Manchin to ensure that West Virginia’s resources and ingenuity can help to chart the course towards a more secure energy future.
 
Byrd’s statement:
 
“I want to congratulate Governor Manchin on his announcement today. Governor Manchin recognizes the serious energy challenges that this Nation faces. He also realizes the incredible opportunity West Virginia has been given to the demonstrate this state's ability to help deal with the major energy security, economic, and environmental challenges that lie ahead of us.
 
“A perfect storm has been brewing regarding our Nation’s continued lack of a comprehensive energy policy. As the U.S. becomes ever more dependent on imported oil, gasoline prices continue to hit West Virginians very hard in the pocket book. The price of natural gas is at an historic high, and consumers and manufacturers in West Virginia and across the country are already struggling to pay their bills.
 
“Our Nation needs to begin defining alternative pathways and new approaches that go beyond the extremist debates and simplistic solutions that define our very demanding energy challenges.
 
“Governor Manchin and I know that it is time to utilize West Virginia’s rich human and natural resources. We should be exploring new ways to use our vast coal resources as well as recognizing the exciting opportunities to develop our renewable resources like hydroelectric, wind, solar, and biomass energy. A serious energy efficiency program, bolstered by the promotion of renewable energy and other clean home-grown energy sources, provides a compass point for a serious energy strategy, and West Virginia can set that course.
 
“At its core, we must rely on our Nation's greatest domestic energy asset, coal. Coal must become a primary fuel source for new energy demands into the 2lst Century. However, to do so requires that we think differently about it. We must accelerate the deployment of commercial-scale technologies that move us away from simply burning coal toward the enhanced ability to transform coal into a variety of energy products. We can begin to meet this challenge by deploying coal gasification, coal-to-liquids, coal bed methane, and carbon sequestration technologies as well as by producing hydrogen and synthetic fuels for use in other sectors of the economy.
 
Furthermore, our nation must finally recognize the incredible impact that U.S. technologies and ideas can have in helping to meet other nations' energy needs. We must open and expand international markets for a range of U.S. clean energy technologies and that can start in West Virginia. “I pledge to work with Governor Manchin on the plan that he has announced today. He has laid out the right track on an exciting new opportunity to make transportation fuels from coal. Pursuing this course will take steadfast leadership, hard work, and plain old ingenuity to move forward.
 
It is time for the federal and state governments, industry, labor, academic, environmental, and local community interests to work together to make this coal conversion initiative a reality. By taking this path, we can begin to reconcile our energy security and climate change challenges, continue to grow the economy, provide new jobs, stimulate advanced technology deployment, and set the stage for a renewed era for coal. By doing so, we can champion a forward-thinking legacy that will benefit West Virginians and the Nation as a whole.”
 
Editor’s Note: For more information on coal gasification, including descriptions of two large gasification power plants in operation near Terre Haute, Indiana and Tampa, Florida, see:
 
http://www.fe.doe.gov/programs/powersystems/gasification/gasificationpioneer.html