Regulatory targets, carbon capture drive coal sector lobbying in Q1
The U.S. coal industry targeted a familiar collection of regulatory goals with federal lobbying spending in the first quarter, while some companies pushed for carbon capture and export solutions to the sector's current challenges.
Lobbying expenditures include, but are not limited to, travel expenses, office rent, salaries for in-house lobbyists, legal fees, association dues and funds paid to any outside service for lobbying services. Data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence was reported by the company or organization to the U.S. Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act Database.
US Senate committee advances bipartisan bill promoting carbon-capture technology
The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works advanced May 22 a bipartisan bill that aims to promote research and development of carbon-capture technologies, including through expedited carbon dioxide pipeline permitting.
Introduced on March 22 by EPW Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies, or USE IT Act, would direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to support carbon utilization and direct air capture research, including through financial awards for project designs that can capture more than 10,000 tons of CO2 per year and be deployed at less than $200 per ton of captured CO2.
Trump 'dismantling the regulatory state' to revive coal, Interior adviser says
A U.S. Department of the Interior official assured an audience of coal supporters that the agency is "dismantling the regulatory state brick by bureaucratic brick to revive coal."
The agency is committed to getting the "government out of your way" to put American coal miners back to work, Interior representative Tucker Davis told a crowd gathered at the Virginia Coal and Energy Alliance on May 22. Davis, a policy adviser to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, said he had a message straight from the secretary himself: "The war on coal is over."
PJM says coal, nuke plants are worth saving, but obsolete infrastructure is not
Coal and nuclear power plants will continue to have a place in PJM Interconnection's footprint, but the regional transmission organization is not out to save "aging infrastructure with old technology," a representative said at an industry conference.
"In the past, we have been more heavily coal-based, but today, we're moving a little bit more toward gas, but I want to make something clear — I don't think anyone in this room, nor does PJM, believe that coal and nuclear is going away," said Darlene Phillips, PJM's director of strategic policy and external affairs, at a Virginia Coal and Energy Alliance conference May 21.
OSMRE seeks comment on draft EIS for San Juan Coal's mining plan modification
The U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement announced that a draft environmental review is available for public comment on San Juan Coal Co.'s proposed modification that provides for continued development of its deep lease extension.
The Westmoreland Coal Co. subsidiary intends to extend its mining operations through 2033 to supply roughly 3 million tons of coal per year to the San Juan Generating Station.
