Word: coal
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...congressional moves to dismember the big oil companies. Several bills have been introduced in Congress in the past few years either to split the oil giants into separate drilling, refining, transportation and marketing companies, or to force them to get out of other fields of energy such as coal and nuclear power, or both. Carter should pledge to veto any such move. At the very moment when incalculably huge sums are needed to develop new sources of energy, the oil companies alone in U.S. industry have the muscle-money, know-how and organization-to do the job. And their...
...addition, though Schlesinger warns against panaceas, the Administration seems to be regarding coal as one. Schlesinger's goal of almost doubling production by 1985 is admirable, but whether it is feasible is open to question. Crucial and complex problems must be solved first...
...begin with, the vast coal deposits that Schlesinger is talking about are not located in the already developed, deep mines of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Instead, they are found in thick seams near the surface in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming, where they are most economically recoverable by landscape-scarring strip mining. Some of the coal lies beneath federal land that has been set aside for recreational purposes, and the Sierra Club and other conservationist groups have been making it difficult to open that acreage to coal mining. Other Western environmentalists also are appalled. "It's an effort...
...those objections can be overcome, the nation's railroads will have to spend millions rebuilding deteriorated roadbeds to bear the added weight of the coal shipments. One widely touted solution is to use slurry pipelines, which would pump pulverized coal and water to users throughout the country. Fine, but who will supply the water? "This is an extremely arid region," says David Freudenthal, Wyoming's state planning coordinator. "It's not that we are opposed to pipelines, but we are opposed to shipping our water out of state...
...special interest groups will be doing their own lobbying. Since Carter's main plank will be conservation, the utility industry should be fairly pleased. Industry leaders are even willing to handle the home-insulation program, but only on the condition that it is entirely voluntary. The National Coal Association, ironically, feels apprehensive about the program, though Schlesinger wants to boost its members' production and sales. Executives fear that Washington's enthusiasm for more coal usage will lead to shortages, followed by federal price controls. Environmentalists, among Washington's most vocal lobbyists, will be reminding Carter...