The president and chief executive officer
of the National Mining Association predicts the coal industry will “hold its
own” at least in the immediate future.
“Given all the circumstances most
industries face right now, that’s a forecast that maybe most would welcome,”
said Hal Quinn.
However, Quinn said pending
regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency will have the greatest
impact on the coal industry as a whole in the long-term.
“It’s not bluster. It’s actually
real. We have already experienced what happens with poorly designed, misguided
federal policies where the costs are actually real, but the benefits are not,”
he said — pointing to the effects of EPA regulations during last year’s winter.
“We saw consequences from these
federal policies retiring plants come very harsh and very soon,” he said. “Over
92 percent of the increase in (power) demand required last winter, as compared
to the winter before, was fueled by coal-fired power plants.”
Quinn provided a coal forecast at a
Wednesday meeting of the United States Energy Association in Washington , D.C.
For coal, in particular, there are
competitive pressures from natural gas and oil. More than anything, Quinn said,
“It’s the federal policies that don’t allow us to compete.”
Once finalized, the EPA’s Clean
Power Plan would require carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants to
be reduced by 30 percent from 2005 levels before 2030.
