[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 93 (Monday, June 21, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5177-S5179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           AMENDMENT NO. 4380

  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I rise to speak in morning business on my 
amendment to the extenders package, Bunning amendment No. 4380.
  First, let me explain why this amendment is needed. When the Senate 
passed the first version of the extenders package in March, the bill 
extended all parts of the alternative fuel credit that expired at the 
end of last year. This included the coal-to-liquids portion of the 
alternative fuel credit.
  I was pleased to hear President Obama mention coal to liquids as an 
important part of our energy strategy in his State of the Union Address 
earlier this year. That is why I am surprised to see coal to liquids 
deliberately excluded from the extenders package, first in the Reid 
substitute and again in the Baucus substitute.
  Let me be clear: The bill doesn't just omit or remain silent on the 
coal-to-liquids credit. This bill specifically says that the coal-to-
liquids credit expired on December 31, 2009, and isn't renewed. That is 
in the bill.
  My colleagues probably know that I have many problems with the 
underlying bill. It adds tens of billions to our national debt and it 
contains job-killing tax increases. Options to pay fully for this bill 
by cutting spending have been offered and rejected, so our children and 
my grandchildren will foot the bill. But I thought that one element 
both parties could agree on is that expired tax provisions that 
taxpayers count on--and have been extended routinely in the past--
should be extended.
  My amendment is simple: It ensures that the coal-to-liquids portion 
of the alternative fuel credit will be extended until the end of the 
year, just like the other expiring parts of the alternative fuel 
credits included in this bill. The Senate already voted to extend all 
parts of the alternative fuel credit when it passed the extenders 
package last March.
  Many difficult innovative fuels qualify for the alternative fuel 
credit, but coal to liquids is the only one that specifically requires 
reduced emissions. The reduction was originally 50 percent but was 
raised to 75 percent last year as a bipartisan agreement. I do not 
understand why the extenders package fails to extend the only part of 
the alternative fuel credit that called for reduced emissions.
  My colleagues who are deficit hawks will be glad to know that this 
amendment will not add one dime to the deficit. This is because no 
coal-to-liquids projects will come on line in 2010, so no tax credit 
will be received. However, if the credit is allowed to remain expired 
and is not renewed, this will have a very damaging effect on 
investments in this extremely promising technology.
  My amendment is also bipartisan. I am grateful to Senators 
Rockefeller, Byrd, and Enzi, who are cosponsors. I know that the 
Senator from Montana, who is the manager of the extenders

[[Page S5178]]

package and the chairman of the Finance Committee, is familiar with the 
coal to liquids because of its potential benefit to his home State.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
an article from the Billings Gazette entitled ``Crow Coal-To-Liquids 
Plant Could Be Boon for Montana,'' at the conclusion of my remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Mr. BUNNING. The article describes the efforts of the Crow Nation to 
build a coal-to-liquids plant on a reservation in Montana in one of the 
poorest counties in the entire Nation. The project will be designed 
with carbon capture and storage. The Crow Nation hopes to begin 
producing the fuel 6 years from now, but losing the benefit of the 
alternative fuel credit would be a serious setback. The tribe is 
already hearing about investors who are now reluctant to invest in the 
project because of the uncertainty around coal to liquids.
  Because the Senator from Montana has a reputation for fighting to 
keep jobs in his home State, I hope he will support the Crow Nation's 
request to extend the coal-to- liquids credit in the extenders package.
  Failing to extend the credit has the potential to destroy thousands 
of jobs that are planned in an extremely poor county in Montana.
  This is not something that can wait for a yet-to-be determined energy 
bill. Almost all of the alternative fuel credit is already contained in 
the extenders package.
  It makes no sense to specifically exclude parts of the alternative 
fuel credit in this bill, with the promise that it will be looked at 
later. It will only become more difficult, the longer the credit is 
expired.
  It will only make extending coal-to-liquids that much harder if it is 
delayed to a bill that has not been written yet and will probably be 
filled with controversial items.
  I am certain the Senator from Montana understands the political 
reality that the extenders package is the last best opportunity to 
extend a provision that is very important to his home State.
  I hope the Senator from Montana will support the Bunning-Rockefeller-
Byrd-Enzi amendment and include it in any new substitute he introduces 
to the extenders package.
  Coal-to-liquids is an important part of our national energy strategy. 
President Obama has recognized this in his State of the Union Address.
  We will never end our dependence on foreign oil until we develop 
alternative sources of fuel.
  Coal is abundant and it is here in America. It is not owned and used 
as leverage against us by hostile nations.
  American coal can be used in a way that both reduces emissions and 
fuels our energy needs.
  It would be a tragic mistake to turn our backs on coal-to-liquids 
when it is a crucial part of America's strategy to end our dependence 
on foreign oil.
  I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

                               Exhibit 1

               [From the Billings Gazette, Aug. 10, 2008]

          Crow Coal-to-Liquids Plant Could Be Boon for Montana

                           (By Matthew Brown)

       Crow Agency, MT.--A $7 billion coal-to-liquids plant 
     proposed for southeastern Montana's Crow reservation promises 
     an economic boon for the region, but must first overcome 
     economic and political hurdles that have kept any such plant 
     from being built in the United States.
       The Many Stars plant--a partnership between the tribe and 
     Australian-American Energy Co.--would convert the 
     reservation's sizable coal reserves into 50,000 barrels a day 
     of diesel and other fuels.
       State officials said Friday it represents the most valuable 
     economic development project in Montana history.
       ``We're talking about one of the most technologically 
     advanced, sophisticated energy projects on the planet,'' Gov. 
     Brian Schweitzer said at a news conference detailing the 
     project.
       Covering the plant's $7 billion price tag will be a 
     challenge in the current economic slowdown. And environmental 
     groups have pledged to step in to oppose the plant if it does 
     not include measures to capture greenhouse gases.
       Yet Australian-American Energy Chairman Allan Blood said he 
     was 90 percent certain the Crow project would be completed.
       ``In my country we have a record of people who have visions 
     and dreams and make them happen,'' Blood said.
       Over the next several years, the company plans to sink $100 
     million into preliminary engineering and environmental work, 
     with a goal of starting construction on the plant by 2012. It 
     could begin producing fuel by 2016.
       For Crow leaders, the project offers an opportunity to lift 
     the tribe out of poverty. Up to 4,000 people would be 
     employed during its construction. And up to 900 permanent 
     jobs would be created with the plant and a new mine on the 
     reservation that would supply the coal.
       ``Our kids will have something to look forward to,'' said 
     tribal Chairman Carl Venne. ``Not the six or seven or eight 
     dollars an hour they are making now just to get by. You're 
     looking at $70,000, $80,000--even $100,000-a-year jobs.''
       But representatives of several environmental groups said 
     they remained wary. An agreement between the tribe and 
     Australian-American Energy calls for the Crow to commit up to 
     50,000 acre-feet of water annually to the project. One acre-
     foot is equal to nearly 326,000 gallons.
       That prospect is raising flags for southeastern Montana's 
     ranching community, which is worried the project could 
     deplete precious water supplies.
       Also, while the tribe and company have pledged to capture 
     95 percent of the plant's emissions of carbon dioxide--a main 
     contributor to global warming--environmentalists said living 
     up to that promise could be difficult.
       Without capturing those emissions and storing the gas 
     underground, coal-based liquid fuels can churn out 
     significantly more greenhouse gases than conventional 
     petroleum, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
       ``(Coal-to-liquids) developers have been saying we'll do 
     something about carbon, but they've been unwilling to put it 
     into their permits. It's been a lot of empty promises,'' said 
     Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club's national campaign 
     against coal plants.
       Officials with Australian-American Energy said the Crow 
     plant would be built on the assumption that Congress, in the 
     next few years, will pass legislation compelling companies to 
     capture carbon dioxide. Such laws do not yet exist.
       Working in the project's favor are high oil prices and the 
     idea of replacing imported oil with homegrown fuels derived 
     from coal. Despite a recent slide, crude prices closed above 
     $115 a barrel on Friday.
       Still, industry officials said the economic downturn has 
     reduced investors' willingness to sink cash into large 
     projects such as the Many Stars plant. Meanwhile, costs have 
     soared due to rising global demand for construction materials 
     and skilled labor.
       ``You have the optimum oil scenario playing out with prices 
     skyrocketing, but you have the bottom dropping out of Wall 
     Street,'' said Corey Henry with the Coal-to-Liquids 
     Coalition, a group funded by the mining industry. ``It's been 
     tough sledding to try to get the money to build these 
     plants.''
       About a dozen coal-to-liquids plants are on the drawing 
     boards in the United States. Only two such plants exist 
     worldwide; both are in South Africa.
       The biggest hurdle in the United States will be getting the 
     first few plants built, Henry said. Once those are 
     operational, he predicted investors would be more willing to 
     fund similar plants.
       Blood said he was not concerned, noting he initiated one 
     coal-to-liquids project in Australia that was later sold for 
     $5 billion. In June, he announced a second project in 
     Australia, a $2 billion plant to convert coal into liquid 
     fertilizer.
       ``You hear about the problems in the capital markets, but 
     what people don't hear is there are dozens and dozens of 
     projects, hundreds of projects, being funded,'' Blood said.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kaufman). The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I note with great interest the comments of 
my good friend from Kentucky, Senator Bunning, about the need for coal-
to-liquids technology. I agree. I agree wholeheartedly. In fact, as the 
Senator from Kentucky undoubtedly knows, I have urged this technology. 
He also knows regrettably the other body is opposed to this technology. 
We have had some difficulty in finding a way to resolve coal to liquids 
in both the House and the Senate.
  I might say to my friend from Kentucky, I am not sure that adding 
this provision is going to speed the passage of the so-called extenders 
bill. In fact, I might tease my good friend from Kentucky by saying I 
think my friend from Kentucky is opposed to passage of the extenders 
bill.
  Maybe, if I could ask the Senator, if he would support passage of the 
extenders bill?
  Mr. BUNNING. Most of them.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Again, Mr. President, I am teasing. I ask my friend, 
somewhat in jest, if he were to fully support passage of the extenders 
bill if this provision he mentioned were in the bill? The fact is, we 
are having a hard time passing the extenders bill. Anything we add to 
the extenders bill is one more additional weight. I do not think that 
would further the passage of the bill at

[[Page S5179]]

this time. Rather, I think the appropriate place for coal-to-liquids 
technology will be in the Energy bill and there will be an Energy bill, 
of that I am positive. There is a question of what will be contained in 
that energy bill, but there will be one, I am sure, brought up on the 
floor of this body to help make this country more secure in its 
national energy position so we are less reliant on foreign countries to 
produce energy.

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