Energy Campaign

"Clean" Coal: The only thing clean about clean coal is the name

UPDATE: THE RECENTLY PASSED ENERGY BILL INCLUDING $1.8 BILLION FOR CLEAN COAL, AND $3 BILLION FOR THE "CLEAN AIR COAL" PROGRAM

The Clean Coal Technology Program (CCTP) began in 1984 as a public-private partnership between the Department of Energy (DOE) and energy companies to develop less polluting coal plants. Since 1985, the DOE has appropriated a total of $2.75 billion for Clean Coal.

But for all the money that the federal government has put into the Clean Coal program, it hasn't gotten much in return. The GAO has released seven reports in recent years criticizing CCTP for wasting and mismanaging taxpayer money. Of the projects GAO examined in 2000, over half were delayed, and two had gone outright bankrupt.

When the Clean Coal program began in 1985, the Department of Energy made a wise decision, with the input of the industry and Congress, to require companies participating in the program to repay the federal government if its technology were commercialized. Unfortunately, the DOE has done a poor job of following through on its decision to collect, and as a result, the payment it has received from the Clean Coal program represents roughly 1% of the government's investment. This bureaucratic error has essentially transformed the Clean Coal program from a public-private partnership to a transfer program, with energy corporations as the recipients.

Additionally, the Administration's proposals could allow companies that use clean coal technology to receive permanent tax credits for research and development. This means that not only will companies participating in the Clean Coal program receive the spending subsidy for developing the clean coal technology, but they will also receive tax breaks for using the technology - in effect, a double subsidy.

Despite all of these concerns, the Bush Administration's FY 2006 budget request includes $286 million for the President's Coal Research Initiative. Using tricky accounting techniques, the administration claims to be scuttling the Clean Coal Technology Program, and placing those funds into a range of other programs, including the Clean Coal Power Initiative and FutureGen. The administration claims it wants to spend $2 billion on clean coal projects over the next decade.

For more information:
TCS Energy Campaign: Coal.