CHEYENNE, Wyo.—The governors of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and West Virginia plan to meet in Cheyenne Friday to discuss funding for coal gasification and for techniques that trap carbon dioxide pollution from power plants.
Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal is among several Western governors who say the federal government needs to establish ground rules for managing greenhouse gases, such as by enticing investment in “clean coal” and other technologies.
The process of trapping carbon dioxide from power plants is called carbon sequestration. The captured carbon is pumped underground, oftentimes to help recharge depleted oil fields. Coal gasification—one form of clean coal technology—involves turning coal into gas and then burning the gas, which is much cleaner than burning coal directly.
Earlier this month, Freudenthal testified before the U.S. House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and stressed the importance of such issues as carbon sequestration.
“If we don’t do something to assist in the capture of carbon from coal, we’ll have neither market forces nor tax incentives for companies to make that investment,” Freudenthal testified.
Rob Hurless, Freudenthal’s energy and telecommunications adviser, said the governors are not working on a single carbon sequestration project. Rather, they will discuss ways to open financial support for such efforts, he said.
Freudenthal, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin plan to meet for much of the day at the Gov.’s Residence.
