A Symposium on the Future of Coal
The morning of April 4 from 9:30am until 11:30am, I will be holding a Symposium on the Future of Coal-Focused Technology, Innovation, and Industry at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise (UVA-Wise) Convocation Center. I am looking forward to engaging communities in our region with federal officials, industry, and researchers and discussing such important issues as the future of coal-focused technology, innovation, of industry.
This event will feature a keynote address by David Mohler, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Clean Coal and Carbon Management within the Office of Fossil Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Mr. Mohler will provide an overview of the Fossil Energy coal and carbon management program, a focused discussion on rare earth elements, and a discussion regarding how DOE is moving forward with the coal program and as well as future opportunities in the Commonwealth.
Following Mr. Mohler’s remarks will be a panel discussion featuring Dr. Roe-Hoan Yoon, Director for the Center for Advanced Separation Technologies at Virginia Tech, Bob VanGundy, Professor in the UVA-Wise Department of Natural Sciences, and representatives from Dominion Resources, Inc., American Electric Power, the Southern States Energy Board/Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership. I expect that the panelists will be discussing the future of coal as they see it in their respective roles.
We all want affordable energy that is clean and efficient. I support the use of all sources of American energy, and believe that we must take full advantage of all options to unlock America’s full potential.
As one part of my all-of-the-above, four-point “Drill, Dig, Discover, and Deregulate” energy plan, I am fighting to discover and advance promising clean-burning coal technologies that will positively impact the economy of Southwest Virginia while minimizing the negative impact to our environment.
In my column of June 24, 2013, I delved into the “coal-direct chemical looping (CDCL)” or simply “chemical looping,” which extracts the energy out of coal with virtually no pollutants. Research into the prospect of chemical looping has been done by Dr. Liang-Shih Fan at The Ohio State University. Others are also researching chemical looping, and the DOE is continuing its work research in this area.
I am excited by this possibility and about other technologies that are also still under development, and am looking forward to discussing at the symposium various potential paths forward.
As I have said before in this column and in the Energy and Commerce, I respect that the DOE under the leadership of Secretary Ernest Moniz has not abandoned efforts to burn coal more cleanly. I do, however, remain worried about anti-coal government policies and their impact on jobs, the Appalachian economy, and our nation’s energy security.
I am looking forward to what I believe will be an informative and productive discussion at the Symposium on the Future of Coal-Focused Technology, Innovation, and Industry on April 4. The event is free and open to the public. No tickets are required to attend.
Freedom Update
In February, a New York Times report indicated that “The Obama administration is on the verge of permitting the National Security Agency to share more of the private communications it intercepts with other American intelligence agencies without first applying any privacy protections to them, according to officials familiar with the deliberations.”
As described by The Hill, “The modification would open the door for the NSA to give the FBI and other federal agencies uncensored communications of foreigners and Americans picked up incidentally — but without a warrant — during sweeps.” Emphasis ours.
Civil libertarians, including myself, have concerns about this change, which could violate many law-abiding Americans’ constitutional and privacy rights.
As two of my colleagues – both members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform – recently wrote to the director of the NSA, “Domestic law enforcement agencies — which need a warrant supported by probable cause to search or seize — cannot do an end run around the Fourth Amendment by searching warrantless information collected by the NSA.”
I agree.
Robert Litt, a top lawyer for an intelligence agency, has, according to The Hill, “…denied allegations that the change would allow the FBI and other agencies to use the sensitive data for domestic law enforcement matters…”
I will continue to monitor the situation to assure that Americans’ rights are not being violated and that laws regarding surveillance programs are not broken.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.
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