PRESS RELEASE: Mon., Nov. 3---Bankrupting Coal Industry Would "Turn America's Lights Out"

Americans for American Energy

For Immediate Release: Nov. 3, 2008
Contact: Greg Schnacke, 866-416-0659

Bankrupting Coal Industry Would "Turn America's Lights Out," Democratic Senator Warns

Denver, CO (Nov. 3, 2008) -- Bankrupting the American coal industry, as presidential candidate Barack Obama has reportedly suggested, would crash the already strained U.S. electrical grid, turn America's lights out and increase America's reliance on foreign energy even more, according to the Democratic chairman of Americans for American Energy.

"I am shocked that any candidate for public office, Democrat or Republican, would suggest bankrupting any industry, much less one that literally keeps America's lights on each day," said Wyoming State Senator Bill Vasey (D). "As recently studies have noted, our electrical grid is already strained to the maximum in some places and is in serious need of new baseload power plants. Preventing the construction of clean coal power plants with carbon capture and sequestration would literally lead to turning America's lights out and destroy our economy."

"Clean-coal-fired power plants provide America with more than one-half of the electricity America needs every day. They give us the affordable and reliable energy that keeps us competitive in global markets. And, we have enough clean coal reserves to last us for centuries. We need to accelerate these technologies even faster so that we can build the clean coal power plants of the future as soon as possible," Vasey said.

Vasey is chairman of Americans for American Energy, a non-profit grassroots group that promotes greater reliance on all forms of American energy and less dependence on imported energy. Vasey runs AAE with two other state legislators, Colorado State Senator Bill Cadman (R) and Utah State Representative Aaron Tilton (R).

"Any approach that bankrupts coal would dramatically increase our reliance on natural gas for electric power generation, and that poses its own problems," Vasey said. "Replacing coal-fired power plants with natural gas plants would require an additional 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, in addition to the seven trillion cubic feet we now use for power generation. That means that all natural gas that is available to America would have to shift to power generation, instead of going to families and businesses for home heating and manufacturing processes. We would have to import huge amounts of natural gas from foreign nations -- much more than we do already."

"Shifting solely to natural gas for power generation also would drive energy prices through the roof, which would hurt our economy and our citizens," Vasey said.

"I call on all candidates for office to distance themselves from any policy that seeks to bankrupt the coal industry," Vasey concluded. "America's energy strategy must rely on a balanced portfolio of American resources."