European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 04, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Doily Magazine born King Coal and the Carter plan by John Bronson associated press he United states has enough Coal to meet Energy requirements at current Levels for 300 years. Show come con i supplied less than 20 per cent of our total Energy needs last year King Coal is not meeting its potential. It s not even close. Consumption has in creased a scant i per cent since the Arab Oil embargo of 1973 when president Nixon launched his project Independence to achieve Energy self sufficiency by 1985. Now there s another president with an other plan for for Energy Independence. And this president once again has made Coal the foundation of his Energy propos als. The Coal Industry is sceptical. We hear that Coal is about to get elected Messiah the new Savior of the people the sure guide for a return to the promised land of 72 degree living rooms full employment and thumbing our noses at the arabs said Edwin Phelps president of pea body Coal co. "71115 does not mean the Public now understands Coal. About the Only thing the Public has Learned is that we have lots of  once a booming Industry Coal stagnated after world War ii when the nation switched to cleaner Oil and Gas. The Indus try is now enjoying a modest upswing and last year posted a record 665 million tons of production. Carter would like that figure to top one billion tons by 1985. And he wants the Coal to be burned in All new Utility and Industrial plants where possible. To help prod the changeover he intends to tax the use of Gas and  producers say the one billion ton target is possible but Only if environmental Laws Are eased something the Carter administration has pledged not to do. If we solve the Energy problem at the expense of the environment the Quality of life we pass on to our children and grand children will be a sad legacy said Interi or Secretary Cecil Andrus. We re on a collision  re torts Carl baggy president of the National Coal association. The president is being inconsistent with his Call for Coal use on the one band and his support for environmental restrictions on the other. He wants guns and  one of the anal Industry s chief com plaints is that the clean air act of 1970 sets limits for the emission of Fulfur dioxide that it says arc impossible to meet. The act has in effect outlawed the use of almost All the Coal mined East of the Mississippi River because of its High Fulfur  has rankled the Industry More than anything is Carter s support for environmental measures that Are even More strict than those already on the books. A strip mine Bill that recently passed the House and will Likely be approved soon by the Senate would set up for the first time Federal controls on surface mining. The measure includes restrictions on mining in Many valleys in the West which has most of the nation s Low Fulfur Coal that is in great demand because of air pol Lution Laws. Bagge claims the Bill would prohibit the mining of 240 million tons of Coal. Where we have it we can t mine it and where we can mine it. We can t Burn  muttered j. Allen Overton president of the american mining Congress. Meanwhile Carter also backs a proposed amendment to the clean air act that would require scrubbers devices that Wash pollutants out of stack gases on All new Coal fired boilers. Utilities Are opposed to scrubbers Call ing them unreliable too expensive and a source of new pollution a toothpaste like sludge that itself must be disposed. Two other amendments aimed at keep ing polluted areas from getting dirtier and keeping air clean have been approved by House and Senate committees. Environmental problems aside the Coal Industry faces other challenges in meeting Carter s production goals. At least 210 new Coal mines with annual production of 5 million tons each would have to open by 1990 to double present production to 1.2 billion tons according to Robert h. Quenon of Carter Oil. The Coal Industry is now capitalized at $6 billion but to finance the new operations the producers would have to raise an estimated $25 billion a Large order for an Industry that has t exactly dazzled investors. And the Money would have to Start flow ing soon because it takes Between five and10 years to get a mine into production. The new mines will also require an Esti mated 100,000 new employees All of whom will have to be trained for an Industry not attractive to new workers. Labor relations could also have a Seri Ous affect on future production goals. The United mine workers Union torn by inter Nal strife has been the focus of an increasing number of Wildcat strikes. According to Robert l. Vines of the Bitu Minous Coal operators association the Industry s bargaining group about two million Man Days were lost to illegal walk outs last year. In the first two months of 1977, the number of Man Days lost is up 60 a Little i our 1&tws 8ich." saturday june 4, 1977 per cent Over the same period in 1976. It said. Carter s Coal production proposals seem to have wide Appeal in con Gress although there Are possible hangups. Some critics say that More Federal financial incentives Are needed for the conversion from Oil or natural Gas to Coal As a boiler fuel. Some in Congress say there is a problem in getting Coal to areas that Don t have it. And Carter s measure might be coupled with legislation to authorize construction of a Coa slurry pipeline. Others will make moves to relax the univ Oriental standards which the Coul Indus try objects  Coal production is boosted what Doe it mean to the consumer few americans will have direct Contact with Coal As an Energy source there Are no moves to bring Back the family Coal Furnace. The fuel s largest Impact will be on the electric Industry which uses Coal to make steam for Turbine generators. The Edison electric Institute estimates that the mandatory conversion to Coal will Cost the Industry about $71 billion by 1985. Taking a 7 per cent inflation rate into account. While it is difficult to say what the Cost May be to an individual because of the Van tables involved the National economic research association in new York Hus arrived at some averages. Or. Louis Perl said the average House hold electric Bill for 1975 was $26. The total Cost of electricity including Yuwei used in products and services the consumer buys was $659. By 1990. Perl said the residential Bill would go up to about $500 and the total electrical Cost would be $1,200. Add in the Cost of clean air requirements and pro posed amendments to the Law. And the total Cost goes up by another $158 per household for a total of $1,358. Perl has also calculated estimates forthe Cost of converting utilities to Coal. If All Fossil fired steam electric plants Are Burn ing Coal in 1985, the annual Cost to the aver age household for conversion alone would be about $80, he said. The stars and stripes Page 13