Hearing of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee - The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977

Statement

Hearing of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee - The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977

"Thank You, Mr. Chairman. You may be interested to know that coal has been mined in New Mexico since the time of Spanish settlement. In the 1860's the Army and railroads further developed the resource, however, significant development of New Mexico's coal fields did not occur until after enactment of the Surface Mining Act passed in 1977.

"Coal resources underlie 12 percent of New Mexico. Most of these resources lie under Indian lands in Northern New Mexico. Through 2004 - 1,697 people were employed at seven coal mines with an annual production value of more than $650 million dollars.

"That coal was used to generate electricity for fellow New Mexicans and our neighbors in Arizona. Nationally coal provides 52 percent of our electricity - electricity used to heat and cool our homes and businesses, run our computers, cook our dinners, communicate with one another, keep abreast of local and world events and in general provide a healthy living environment.

"Fear of human-caused climate change has led many to call for drastic reductions in the use of coal and other fossil fuels until such time as we can successfully sequester the CO2 that is released by burning these resources to generate electricity, fuel our transportation and manufacturing sectors, and provide feed stock for chemicals used in fertilizers, medicine and plastics.

"In May, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held an oversight hearing on ‘The Future of Fossil Fuels: Geological and Terrestrial Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide'. At that hearing, witnesses testified that the technology to sequester CO2 was not ready for commercial use and would not be for many years into the future.

"In today's Wall Street Journal, an article regarding coal states that the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission urged commissioners to reject a ‘clean coal' power plant because the cost would be too high for consumers. The judge concluded that it would cost an extra $472.3 million, in 2011 dollars, to make the power plant capable of capturing 30 percent of its carbon dioxide emissions, and another $635.4 million to build a pipeline to move the greenhouse gas to the nearest deep geologic storage area. Thus, a $1.1 billion in pollution controls had the potential to inflate the cost of power by $50 a megawatt hour, making the plant twice as expensive as other power plants.

"In that same article, it states that 150 new power plants were on the drawing board in May, but many of those projects are being cancelled. Energy and energy produced from coal is the fuel that drives this nation's economic engine - currently the most robust in the world.

"My fear is that well meaning but misguided individuals will cause our nation to dramatically reduce it's use of coal as a source of electrical power generation forcing mines to close, rural communities which host the mine workers to face high unemployment and loss of revenue generated from taxes and royalties paid by the mine workers and mining companies, and an overall increase in the costs of electric power used by Americans and American businesses.

"And finally I ask if we reduce our use of coal and do not use this abundant national resource where and who will pay the Abandoned Mined Land fee that has been used to clean up many abandoned coal mines that had operated prior to the enactment of SMCRA in 1977?

"In New Mexico more than $8 million dollars has been spent from monies collected from coal operations to clean up and secure high-priority Abandoned Mine Land reclamation projects since the program was approved in 1981.

"I thank the witnesses for their testimony and look forward to hearing from them."

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