On the recordMarch 5, 2014
I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I can assure you we are not speaking from fear today. I can assure you we are not being parochial about coal. Coal is still the base load for this country--for manufacturing, industrial use, electricity at home, and for our ability to compete in the world. I have great admiration and respect for the gentleman from California, and I am sorry that he has made the decision to leave Congress after having a distinguished career, but I can tell you there is no power plant operating in America today that is using carbon capture and sequestration, because the technology is not available. Now, there are some plants being built with government support and would not be built without that government support, but they are not in operation. There is a difference. When scrubbers were mandated by the EPA, scrubbers were already being put in plants at private expense. The government didn't pay for those scrubbers. They were already being used. Unlike this proposed regulation, there is no technology available to meet the emission standard, so there is a significant difference in what has happened and what is being proposed. At this time, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton), the distinguished chairman of the full Energy and Commerce Committee.
