Kaine co-sponsors 'clean coal' legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has signed as a co-sponsor of legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate designed to boost large scale federal and private sector investment to develop "clean coal" technologies.
Kaine said he is a co-sponsor of the Advanced Clean Coal Technology Investment in Our Nation (ACCTION) bill "because it recognizes that the solution to our energy and climate challenges is American innovation. Coal is a reliable and abundant fuel source, yet one which generates significant carbon pollution.
"The innovation challenge, therefore, is to get the same energy from coal with less pollution. This bill tasks the Department of Energy's brightest innovators with this challenge and provides incentives for the private sector to invest in developing and commercializing this technology."
Provisions of the bill include directing $2 billion, or 25 percent, of the current DOE loan guarantee program funding for fossil energy to go to coal projects, enable eligible projects to receive loan guarantees even if they have received another source of federal assistance, and streamline the process for companies to receive federal funds for qualified projects.
Other provisions include increasing the current tax credit for carbon sequestration from coal facilities to 30 percent and include polygeneration facilities among potential eligible projects; creation of a variable price support for companies that capture carbon dioxide (CO2) to provide long term certainty to the utility that sell CO2 for enhanced oil and gas recovery, regardless of the price of oil; and create clean energy coal bonds to provide tax credits for coal fired facilities that sequester CO2 or meet efficiency targets relative to the current fleet of coal fired power plants.
Kaine said he will "continue to support a balanced approach to addressing our energy needs that helps our nation generate energy cleaner tomorrow than we are today, without compromising reliability and affordability."
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