I'll be the first one to tell you I burn coal... That fossil generation and the nuclear generation, frankly, is necessary in order for me to provide power.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
To shut off coal, or to say you can't have further coal development, I think is the wrong way to go.
Here in Indiana and in many states throughout the union, we rely on coal to power our homes and provide good-paying middle class jobs - like the one my family relied on when I was a kid. The coal mine helped put food on our table and helped me pursue an education and realize the American Dream.
I have a responsibility to devote my energy to my country and my people.
Further, the United States is moving ahead in the development of clean coal technology. There are vast coal reserves in our country, and when it is burned cleanly, coal can provide a resource to supply a large amount of our energy requirements.
It's as certain that as long as fossil fuels are the cheapest energy, we will just keep burning them.
You'd save millions upon millions of lives by making fossil fuels available to parts of the world that don't have it.
One of my top priorities in Congress is to reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels.
There is an urgent need to stop subsidizing the fossil fuel industry, dramatically reduce wasted energy, and significantly shift our power supplies from oil, coal, and natural gas to wind, solar, geothermal, and other renewable energy sources.
We'll always need energy. We need to communicate, too, but we're not stuck with hand gestures and smoke signals. There are better ways to power our future than by digging fossil fuel from the ground and setting it on fire.
If a power station were to be built down the road, I'd prefer a nuclear plant over an oil burner, and definitely over a coal burner. We simply have to lessen our consumption of fossil fuels.