Political Quotes

“I am so encouraged that you remember the history of your great State in not forgetting those coal mines. We have to face the facts and the realization that there are 8 billion tons of coal being burned in the world on an annual basis. We burn less than 1 billion in the United States of America, and we are the country that has done more to clean up the environment than any other country. They all talk about doing different things, but we have taken the SOx and the NO<INF>X</INF> and the mercury out and the particulates. We have done more in the last two decades than has ever been done, and there is more that can be done. I have to be very honest with you. The last 8 years was very challenging and difficult for us. No one wanted to make the effort. They talked a good game, but no one would put the investment into the technology that was needed. Now we have this bill--it is bipartisan that everybody is working hard on--that has a chance to really put us in the forefront of how we utilize this carbon capture and sequestration. West Virginia has one of the first powerplants, the Mountaineer Power Plant, that shows it can be done commercially. We did a commercial test there. We know it can be done. We know it is expensive. At the time, President Obama said to go ahead and build a coal plant, and we will break you. He knew it was not financially feasible, and that is where that statement came from. First of all, coal was a baseload fuel.…”