Wyoming Vote Tracker

Sensing a potential backlash for his recent critique of Sen. Barrasso’s vote against the SCHIP expansion, Wyoming Gov. Freudenthal (D) lashed out against the federal roadblock to Wyoming’s coal industry.

As one of the largest energy producers in the nation, Wyoming is no stranger to the debate over global warming.

With a Democratic governor who embraces energy development even as he advocates for emerging clean-coal technologies, the state has tried to address climate change head-on - without swerving from its energy-dependent economy.

Yet those efforts, including a $3 billion clean-coal project, have been sidelined at the federal level and left the state’s leaders frustrated. With no clear indication of the federal government’s direction on climate change, Wyoming is finding it difficult to strike out on its own.

“They’ve got to decide if they’re serious about this,” Gov. Dave Freudenthal said in a recent telephone interview. “An awful lot of people are prepared to unleash an awful lot of creativity to make all of this work, but they’ve got to have some signals about what the policies are going to be.”

A federal energy bill approved in 2005 appeared to launch a close energy alliance between Wyo-ming and the federal government. The bill included a congressional commitment to an advanced coal-fired power plant near Rock Springs with the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without cutting into Wyoming’s production of 430 million tons of coal annually.

But Congress has failed to follow through on promised subsidies for the plant. And last month came indications that Wyoming’s struggles to land funding could get even tougher, when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced his opposition to three coal-fueled power plants proposed in his home state of Nevada.

Of course, that’s just his “philosophical position.” He’d much rather try to be active in Nevada and use the U.S. Senate to get Rush Limbaugh off the air than do anything else.

Meanwhile, the above comment from teh Governor seems to indicate that he is in agreement with Sen. Enzi on the issue.

I really believe in research. I really think that if there’s any problems out there, American ingenuity can solve it. There are a lot of people that say, `No, there are all theses things that just cause problems, let’s not do anything with them.’

We can improve on all of them. We can have the kind of energy we need. We can even have energy independence.

Meanwhile, there is a lot of speculation about the clean(er) coal technology in the market:

Freudenthal said Wyoming has acted independently where it can: devoting $17 million to a new School of Energy Resources at the University of Wyoming; spending $2.5 million on clean coal technologies; and setting aside $5 million to develop ways to use carbon dioxide to enhance oil recovery.

Yet that pales in comparison to the cost of a single coal gasification plant, which can exceed $1 billion depending on size. Meanwhile, the private market has been reluctant to invest in such power projects until the technology is commercially proven.

Among his constituents, Freudenthal is walking a fine line advocating for less polluting technologies as his state undergoes a boom in energy exploration. Wyoming produces more coal than any other state and is among the top ten in both oil and gas production.

Factored into his concern is an agreement that the Governor signed with California’s movie star Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger:

I’m excited also to create this partnership today with my good friend Governor Freudenthal of Wyoming, to make sure that the latest in clean coal technology is developed here in the West,” said Governor Schwarzenegger, at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between California and Wyoming.

I can just imagine the Governor of Kha–lee-for-nee-uh pronouncing our Governor’s name (and if you know where I can find the sound bite, please let me know)!

At any rate, here’s where the tricky part comes in. The EPA has basically mandated that cleaner energy resources be used (best available technology, if you will). Wyoming has coal, and LOTS of it. A small amount of research has shown that coal can possibly be made cleaner. Wyoming is ready to act on it, but with it being a federal mandate, the state awaits funding.

But because of the high price tag, the plant will not move forward without the federal government picking up a significant share of the cost, said PacifiCorp spokesman David Eskelsen. A $50 million federal down payment, sought by the late U.S. Senator Craig Thomas of Wyoming, was stripped out of the Department of Energy’s 2008 budget by Congress.

The number of similar power plants planned nationwide has grown sharply, from 19 coal gasification proposals in January 2006, to 34 proposed as of May 2007.

Only two of the plants exist in the U.S. Both were heavily subsidized.

Energy Department spokesman William Purvis said a $2 billion federal loan guarantee program could “prime the pump” and accelerate construction. More than 140 loan applications had been filed before the program was even finalized, for loan requests totaling more than $27 billion.

Analysts say many of the companies and utilities proposing the plants are waiting for Congress to provide more funding and to settle on a national carbon regulation program. Until then, states like Wyoming are unlikely to make much progress on their own, said Michael Shellenberger, managing director of American Environics, an Oakland-based research organization.

“When you have the governor of a coal state doing a lot of lobbying for it, it’s all perceived as pork spending in Washington,” he said. “You’ve got to find a way to nationalize the commitment.”

So, if you want cheap coal-powered energy, tell your representatives and senators that Wyoming has it if they’ll help foot the bill to develop it.

In addition to the clean coal, there are also concerns about our natural gas pipeline system that will help increase our income on natural gas exports. Rep. Pat Childers (R-WY House Dist. 50, Cody) mentioned on KODI’s Speak Your Piece this morning that first pipeline is nearing completion and the report is that it will be full when it is. Sounds to me like the big-city highway widening projects.

Technorati Tags: Sen. Mike Enzi, Gov Dave Freudenthal, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, energy policy, energy development, clean coal

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