Apr 13, 2014 2 min read

An April 6 letter to the editor regarding coal-fired power plants contains several assertions and conclusions that are either misleading or inaccurate.

The proposed Coal-Fired Electric Generation Deactivation Commission is the product of a bipartisan consensus among legislators from the coal-producing regions of Pennsylvania. These legislators are concerned – rightly so – with the numerous unintended consequences of suddenly removing coal from the nation’s energy mix, including the negative impact that such a move would have on the economy of the areas they represent.

It is naive, or perhaps disingenuous, to suggest that their efforts be directed toward creating “economic transition commissions” to prepare “to move beyond the fossil-fuel era.” As we discovered during the severe cold spells earlier this year, there simply is not enough of a reliable power supply to assure that residential, commercial and industrial needs can be met at a reasonable price, if at all.

I can assure you that the legislators in question do, indeed, care about the future of Greene County. They know that mining is the livelihood for more than 3,000 county residents, and that it supports nearly 5,000 additional jobs in the county across all other sectors of the economy.

Moreover, the fact is technology has enabled significant advances in reducing emissions of sulfur, nitrogen, particulates and even carbon.

Further advances are in sight, but will not occur if we remove coal from the energy equation.

Opposing the use of coal may be fashionable, but the opponents really have no idea of the damage that will occur in doing so, all while doing little or nothing to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases. We don’t need to choose between environmental quality and jobs. We can have both by charting a path that will enable clean coal technology to further reduce emissions within the realm of what science and technology make possible.

John Pippy

Monessen

John Pippy is the CEO of the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance.