The following article was published in The Evansville Courier & Press Opinions section on June 18, 2007.

Coal Gasification: Our Long-Term Energy Solution
By Christine St. John

In a letter to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission published in Viewpoint on June 6, State Representative Dennis T. Avery took a 1970s approach to the issue of coal-generated electricity, repeating tired standards that today have little merit and less fact. The truth is that economically and environmentally, the coal gasification plant proposed for Edwardsport will have a positive impact on the state of Indiana.

IGCC (Integrated gasification combined cycle) -- commonly known as syn-gas or coal gasification -- turns coal into gas and then burns the gas to produce electricity. This dual process requires less coal to generate the same amount of electricity, at a fraction of the cost of natural gas. And because most of the impurities in coal are removed during the process, there is far less air pollution and solid waste.

The conversion to coal gasification will allow the mining industry to continue providing thousands of jobs for Indiana. It should also be noted that for every coal mining job in the US, an additional 2.8 jobs are created in other sectors of the economy (National Mining Association 2007 Report) and that in 2005, the coal mining industry generated $377 million dollars in personal income and payroll taxes alone. Those dollars are taxed, spent and invested in our communities.

Based on current consumption rates, Indiana has more than a 400-year supply of coal still available. Rather than committing funds to any more "studies," it is time to move forward with technology that will transform the mining industry into a leader on the environmental front.

We are one of an elite group of states that provides this nation with relief and independence from foreign oil and the political agendas that come with it. We cannot afford to dismiss the value of the coal mining industry when clean-coal technology promises long-term solutions for energy issues not only in our country, but in nations all over the world.

Let us leave the rhetoric of former decades behind and rely on current knowledge, information and technology regarding our most valuable and affordable source of energy: coal.