EVEN BIG OIL BACKS NEW ENERGY JOBS & NOT COAL

Don't Risk 'Clean Energy' Future to Save Coal Jobs, Says BP's CEO
Mike Soraghan, March 24, 2010 (NY Times)

"The United States isn't going to get 'beyond petroleum' anytime soon, but the chief executive of oil giant BP says it's time for the nation to start thinking beyond coal.

"The nation should not be trying to save coal jobs at the expense of cleaner fuel industries, Tony Hayward, head of BP PLC, told a Washington think tank audience…adding that there is no reason to keep building coal-burning power plants…Hayward's comments reflect an increasingly bitter political rift between two of the largest elements of the country's energy industry -- coal and natural gas."

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"Gas executives are irritated that authors of the House climate bill last year built significant protections into the legislation to protect coal industry jobs and coal-state lawmakers. If lawmakers want to cut carbon emissions, they say, they should look more to natural gas, which emits about half as much carbon as coal. They say gas should be the "bridge fuel" to a low-carbon future or, even better, a permanent fixture of a diverse approach to lowering emissions…

"BP is one of the world's largest producers and refiners of oil and gas. But it has little or no stake in coal…Hayward's predecessor, John Browne, made BP one of the world's first oil giants to deem climate change a problem. With its "Beyond Petroleum" campaign, BP continues to market itself as a forward-looking and environmentally conscious energy company."

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"BP is among the petroleum companies laboring to improve the fortunes of natural gas in the Senate climate bill being drafted by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.)…[BP wants to] block federal regulation of [fracking, a controversial] gas drilling technique …Hayward also said that with the vast supplies of natural gas now available in the United States, the country should be weaning itself from coal-fired electricity…[and stressed] that fossil fuels are not going away in the decades ahead…[He said] a cap-and-trade mechanism…[is the answer to climate change and]…dismissed the idea of a carbon tax…"

[Carol Raulston, spokeswoman, National Mining Association:] "Mr. Hayward is obviously unaware that coal is America's most abundant energy resource…I'm consistently surprised that one of the world's wealthiest companies would suggest Americans should forgo good jobs and affordable electricity from coal so that oil and gas can increase their market share."