Orrin Hatch: “Another adverse ramification of the President's action today is inability to responsibly extract the high-quality…”

“Another adverse ramification of the President's action today is inability to responsibly extract the high-quality, clean-burning, low-sulfur coal that lies in the Kaiparowits coal basin. Please note, the coal is in the basin, not on the Kaiparowits Plateau. This is not a strip mine. This is a mine right in the side that will not even show. The basin has been called the 'Saudi Arabia of coal.' There are about 62 billion tons of coal here, about 16 billion tons of which can be mined with existing technologies. That is enough coal to fulfill Utah's energy needs for the next 1,000 years, and, I might add, the energy needs of this country. That is environmentally sound coal that could be blended with the dirty coal from the East, and it would be in the best interest of the environment of this country. I find it a little ironic that the President wants to prevent the mining of this clean, environmentally beneficial coal while we are still paying billions of dollars to clean our dirty air from burning high-sulfur, dirty coal. These coal reserves, in addition to being a financial asset to our State, are a critical energy resource for our entire country. We are being extremely shortsighted if we forget this fact. How can we justify sending U.S. troops to keep the Middle East stable and to keep the oil flowing when President Clinton refuses to develop energy resources right here in our own country? We have to do both.”