Via Forum Communications:
Statewide polling indicates that North Dakota residents want the coal industry to succeed, and they support carbon capture to do it. Our history of success using safety and transparency gives us credibility in working with private property owners on land access and reclamation.
If we want a coal industry that lasts generations, we will have to operate in a carbon-constrained world that requires utilizing carbon capture.
North Dakota’s existing coal fleet provides dispatchable, reliable, and affordable energy. But it faces danger from new regulations requiring drastically reduced carbon emissions. With politicians and regulators in D.C. supporting even more reductions, it is time to protect existing plants and lay the groundwork for the future.
The coal industry and North Dakota leaders are focusing on positioning the state to be successful and continue to monetize the billions of dollars of oil that remain in the Bakken. After primary extraction, carbon capture can further enhance production capabilities.
Carbon capture allows North Dakota to increase production of our most profitable product—oil—maintain, expand the state’s fifth largest industry—coal, and open new markets to agriculture.
The state benefits from the electric industry’s investments leveraged with federal funds to build the infrastructure that will save existing coal plants and thousands of jobs while building with the future in mind. Not taking advantage of these opportunities would be careless and nearsighted.
Regardless of the motivation of anti-carbon voices, our ultimate reason is to build new, affordable and reliable power plants that bring jobs, growth and prosperity to our industry and others.
Jason Bohrer is president and CEO of Lignite Energy Council.
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