David Thomas: “The Senator is correct, of course. There are a great many things that could happen. We have low-sulfur coal, which is…”

“The Senator is correct, of course. There are a great many things that could happen. We have low-sulfur coal, which is very clean, but it is relatively low Btu. You can do some things to enrich the Btu's. One of the problems is transportation. We have this great coal now that costs us less than $5 a ton. That is what it is worth at the mouth of the mine. But if you take it then to Fort Worth, TX, it is $25 because of transportation. You could transport many more Btu's if you would do this enrichment. Fifty percent of Wyoming belongs to the Federal Government. Some of it is set aside, of course, and should be, as wilderness. Some of it is set aside in forests and lands that need special protection. But much of the land is high plains lands, and so on, that can be used for multiple use, can be used for production. Frankly, it has been made so difficult. We have had such a hard time with royalty payments, these kinds of things that really are unnecessary. The Senator from Alaska is right. We can do a few things to encourage domestic production and really take us out of this kind of a proposition.”