Coal Can Do That: Energy for the 21st Century

Numerous studies support the call for greater use of coal to improve energy security, drive down energy costs and build the economy. Among them:

The National Coal Council's Coal: America's Energy Future, calls for more than doubling U.S. coal production annually for clean electricity, natural gas, transportation fuels, hydrogen and ethanol. The study, which was conducted at the behest of U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, calls for investing a present value of $350 billion to create a new energy infrastructure that would drive down energy costs 33 percent, create 1.4 million jobs and create $3 trillion in net-present-value economic benefits by 2025.

On the heels of the National Coal Council's report, the Southern States Energy Board (SSEB), a consortium of governors and state legislators, released the American Energy Security study, calling for U.S. energy independence by 2030 through production of ultra-clean liquid transportation fuels, including 5.6 million barrels a day of coal-to-liquids fueled by about 1 billion tons of U.S. coal per year.

The net result:

• A renewed U.S. industrial boom, with direct new energy sector investments of up to $200 billion by 2030
• More than 1.4 million new jobs created over two decades
• A projected reduction of the U.S. trade deficit by $600 billion by 2030
• A conservation and efficiency savings equivalent to 19 million barrels per day of current oil usage.

In addition to fueling energy security, multiple studies confirm that coal improves economic prosperity. A 2006 study conducted by Pennsylvania State University researchers examines the direct and indirect effects of coal-generated electricity on state economies. The study, "The Economic Impacts of Coal Utilization and Displacement in the Continental United States, 2015," estimates that coal use will add more than $1 trillion to U.S. economic output in 2015 along with 4.6 million to 9 million jobs.

The Electric Power Research Institute reported in May 2002 that the cumulative benefit for improving coal technology and reducing exposure to high-priced natural gas-fired generation within the electricity sector from 2007 to 2050 could reach $1.3 trillion in 2000 dollars. Notably, the scenarios used natural gas price assumptions well below those represented by recent prices and the futures market through 2010.

Studies also show that greater use of coal-fueled electricity helps free up a family's disposable income for good nutrition, quality medical care and other lifestyle choices that lead to improved health. Consider the Klein-Keeney report, which shows that coal prevents at least 14,000 to 25,000 premature deaths each year due to low-cost electricity. These benefits continue to accrue, and are leveraged by the continuous improvements in coal's environmental profile.

An even newer study by M. Harvey Brenner, a professor of Health and Policy Management at Johns Hopkins University, confirmed the Klein-Keeney findings. Brenner concluded that if coal were removed from the energy mix, the result would be approximately 170,000 to 368,000 premature deaths in the United States in the year 2010.