WASHINGTON - On Monday, July 29, 2013, Secretary Moniz will visit the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown, W. Va. Moniz will tour the facility where the National Energy Technology Laboratory is leading the charge to develop clean and efficient energy technology.
Below are excerpts of the Secretary’s remarks as prepared for delivery:
“Last month, President Obama laid out a broad plan to reduce the effects of climate change by cutting dangerous carbon pollution, increasing the production of clean energy, and doubling down on energy efficiency.
“The challenges we face are serious. We are already beginning to feel the effects of climate change - floods, heat waves and droughts are becoming more severe, driving up food and energy prices. And rising temperatures and more intense storms pose a serious threat to our infrastructure throughout the country.
“But the United States has faced challenges like this before, and we have always found a way to innovate our way to a cleaner and more prosperous future. For our part, the Department of Energy has an important role to play in supporting the groundbreaking science and innovation that is essential to the President’s vision.
“In the last four years, we’ve more than doubled renewable energy generation from wind and solar power. However, coal and other fossil fuels still provide 80 percent of our energy, 70 percent of our electricity, and will be a major part of our energy future for decades. That’s why any serious effort to protect our kids from the worst effects of climate change must also include developing, demonstrating and deploying the technologies to use our abundant fossil fuel resources as cleanly as possible.
“The efforts underway here at NETL’s Morgantown campus, as well as its other research facilities, are an important part of a much larger portfolio of clean fossil fuel technologies across the Department of Energy and across the country.
“The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects increases in U.S. coal utilization in 2013, and other countries have been increasing their imports of coal. No discussion of U.S. energy security and reducing global CO2 emissions is complete without talking about coal - and the technologies that will allow us to use this resource more efficiently and with fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
“This is why, since President Obama took office, the Department of Energy has invested more than $6 billion to clean coal technologies - particularly in carbon capture, utilization, and storage - helping to ensure that fossil energy use is cleaner, safer, and more sustainable."
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
