2009-01-14

At Hearing, Chu Tempers Comments on Gas Tax, Coal. By Steven Mufson, WashPost, January 14, 2009. "Steven Chu, President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for Energy secretary, presented strong views yesterday on the need to combat climate change while delicately handling questions from senators about his past criticism of coal use, endorsement of gasoline taxes and embrace of a cap-and-trade system for limiting greenhouse gas emissions... Chu told the committee that 'if the world continues to use coal the way it is using it today, not only in the United States but in Russia, India and China, it is a pretty bad dream.' But he added that he does not favor a moratorium on coal and said he would seek and fund research on carbon capture and storage technologies so that the United States could continue to tap its abundant coal reserves... Asked about the cap-and-trade system, Chu gave only tepid endorsement of the approach most commonly cited as the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

No comments:

Post a Comment

Post a Comment