WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's top energy and environmental officials said Wednesday there is a future for coal, despite a pending regulation aimed at limiting global warming pollution from new power plants that Republicans and the coal industry say will doom the fuel source.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, questioned at a House hearing, both said coal-fired power would continue. Coal makes up about 40 percent of U.S. electricity.
"The rule will provide certainty for the future of new coal moving forward, and in terms of existing facilities, coal will continue to represent a significant source of energy for decades to come," said McCarthy, who did not disclose specifics.
The EPA is under a Friday deadline to release an updated proposal that would set the first-ever limits on carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, from new power plants.