PITTSBURGH, July 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) executive told Senators yesterday that the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, passed recently by the US House of Representatives, was "the wrong plan for America." Steven Winberg, Vice President, Research and Development, along with a panel of fossil fuel experts, made the comments during a roundtable discussion hosted by U.S. Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio), and urged the two senators to reconsider key provisions of the bill, including the targets and timetables for emission reductions as well urging the addition of cost containment provisions. "If the EPA or CBO estimates prove to have understated the level to which allowance prices will rise," Winberg said, "the impacts to the national economy will be very damaging." He also raised doubts about the aggressive reduction timetables in the bill, originally drafted by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey. "While we recognize the desire of some to show progress on carbon reduction by the end of the next decade," Winberg noted, "we are concerned that although Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies may be commercially viable by 2020, they will not yet be deployed to a sufficient extent to avoid a serious impact on electricity prices and reliability." Winberg called CCS technologies essential to both the U.S. and the world economies. "Coal is our most abundant domestic energy resource and we need sustained investment in CCS technology and the time to develop, demonstrate and commercialize it," he said. "Coal fuels almost 40% of electricity worldwide, and its use is expected to dramatically increase over the next few decades." While CCS technologies will enable the U.S. to reduce carbon emissions, these technologies also can be exported to developing countries to help them reduce emissions as well, he said. He said that unilateral greenhouse gas reductions by the U.S. will have little to no impact on atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gasses if carbon restrictions are not made elsewhere in the world. Winberg said it is likely that the U.S. will find itself at a significant global disadvantage should Congress force significant reductions in US greenhouse gas emissions without providing sufficient resources and adequate time to develop the technologies to achieve them. "Significant CO2 reductions will not be achieved by substituting renewable energy for fossil energy, or by relying heavily on conservation," he noted, saying fossil fuels will remain a significant part of the world's energy portfolio for years to come. He added, "Fossil fuels provide more than 80% of the world's energy. Regulating carbon will impact the food we grow, the fabrics in the clothes we wear and the shingles in the roof over our head." Winberg told the Senators that failure to carefully craft climate legislation "may create economic problems that will make our current circumstances pale in comparison." He urged them to reject any arbitrary timetables for Senate action and correct the enormous shortcomings of the House bill. To view the testimony in its entirety, please use the following link and see first item: http://www.consolenergy.com/Newsroom/Speeches.aspx CONSOL Energy Inc., a high-Btu bituminous coal and natural gas company, is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Equity Index and the Fortune 500. It has 17 bituminous coal mining complexes in six states and reports proven and probable coal reserves of 4.5 billion tons. It is also a majority owner of CNX Gas Corporation, a leading Appalachian gas producer, with proved reserves of over 1.4 trillion cubic feet. Additional information about CONSOL Energy can be found at its web site: http://www.consolenergy.com/. DATASOURCE: CONSOL Energy Inc. CONTACT: Thomas F. Hoffman of CONSOL Energy Inc., +1-724-485-4060 Web Site: http://www.consolenergy.com/

Copyright