Consol research and development vice-president Steven Winberg was speaking at a field hearing of the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in Pittsburgh on Monday.
"Coal is our most abundant energy resource and we need sustained, predictable investment in CCS coupled with the time to develop, demonstrate and commercialise it effectively," Winberg said.
"However, there is a key overarching issue. If the legislation forces significant reductions in US greenhouse gas emissions before these new technologies are commercially deployable, we will negatively impact a significant part of the existing fleet of coal-fired power plants."
Winberg said that without allowing the time necessary to develop and fully deploy CCS at existing power plants before requiring significant reductions in emissions, the legislation would short-circuit promising technological developments.
He said other effects could include higher consumer electricity costs, power grid reliability problems, a negative impact on US global competitiveness, and a missed opportunity for US-developed CCS technologies to be exported to other countries.
Winberg also warned the committee that unless cost containment provisions were included in the bill, job losses and significant economic dislocation could occur, particularly in states such as Pennsylvania.
"We have seen estimates that net job losses could exceed 80,000 on a statewide basis in Pennsylvania," he said.
He said the climate change legislation passed by the House acknowledged that job losses would occur and contained an "adversely affected worker" provision to provide assistance to workers who lost their jobs as a result of the legislation. Cost containment provisions would limit economic harm if congressional estimates of the cost of the legislation proved to be too low.
Winberg said a failure to coordinate the technology development sections of the bill with the timing of emission reductions, or a failure to contain costs, would significantly harm Pennsylvania's economy, particularly in sectors dependent on affordable electricity.
