Coal Stays On The Front Burner

Coal Stays On The Front Burner

Ron Wood, President of Black & Veatch Energy Engineering and Construction Division, believes government should prohibit the use of natural gas for uses such as electricity generation. I also read in a different publication that Senator Bingaman of New Mexico believes government should encourage utilities to use fuels that are cheaper than natural gas to produce electricity. Both of these gentlemen are old enough to remember the Fuel Use Act that was enacted back in the 1970s during the Carter Administration. Apparently, they have chosen to forget the mess the FUA created. For a while, we didn't build any waste heat boilers, but we sure built a lot of waste heat recovery units. The moral to this story, as has been proven by the federal acid rain regulations and other cap and trade programs, is that market-based programs work much better than command and control programs, no matter how many policies and regulations the government tries to enact.

Gordon Combs, Houston, Texas

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