[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 140 (Thursday, October 1, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H10436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             COAL IS NEEDED

  (Mr. DUNCAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, Bjorn Lomborg, one of the world's leading 
environmentalists, wrote in Monday's Washington Post these words:
  ``Today, coal accounts for almost half of the planet's electricity 
supply, including half the power consumed in the United States. It 
keeps hospitals and core infrastructure running, provides warmth and 
light in winter, and makes lifesaving air-conditioning available in 
summer. In China and India, where coal accounts for more than 80 
percent of power generation, it has helped to lift hundreds of millions 
of people out of poverty.
  ``There is no doubt that coal is causing environmental damage that we 
need to stop. But a clumsy, radical halt to our coal use--which is what 
promises of drastic carbon cuts require--would mean depriving billions 
of people of a path to prosperity.
  ``To put it bluntly: despite their good intentions, the activists, 
lobbyists and politicians making a last-ditch push for hugely expensive 
carbon-cut promises could easily end up doing hundreds of times more 
damage to the planet than coal ever could.''
  I wish we would heed those words of this environmentalist because if 
we drastically cut back on coal, we're going to hurt millions of poor 
people in the process.

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