Can the U.S. and China Cooperate on Coal?

Energy Secretary Stephen Chu’s testimony reminds us that the coal challenge is global, and its solutions must be global too.

In his testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee two weeks ago, Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu gave a succinct but eloquent insight into how we might effectively address the daunting global challenge of coal:

“Two-thirds of the known coal reserves in the world lie in only four countries: the United States, first and foremost, followed by India, China and Russia. India and China, Russia and the United States, I believe, will not turn their back on coal, so it is imperative that we figure out a way to use coal as cleanly as possible. And so for that reason, I think again, my optimism as a scientist, we will develop those technologies to capture a large fraction of the carbon dioxide that is emitted from coal plants and safely sequester them. So if confirmed as Secretary of Energy I will work very hard to extensively develop these technologies so that the United States and the rest of the world can use them.”