THIS IS A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OFFICE OF UNITED STATES SENATOR JAY ROCKEFELLER.

Washington, D.C – Senator Jay Rockefeller today authored sweeping legislation to put the nation on the path to harnessing the abundant uses of clean West Virginia coal to help lower gas prices, promote energy independence and tackle the pressing challenge of carbon capture and sequestration.

The Rockefeller-authored, Future Fuels Act, was introduced today during a rare Saturday session of the U.S. Senate that also included an attempt – ultimately blocked by Senate Republicans -- to address the rising costs of utility bills faced by fixed- and low-income families.

“Record high oil prices mean we’re paying more for everything from gas to food to electricity to power, heat and cool our homes. West Virginia families are looking for solutions, not excuses. We need a plan of action. We need a sustainable source of fuel, and coal – especially clean, West Virginia coal – has to be part of the answer,” Rockefeller said. “That’s why I authored this bill. Not just to harness the promise of coal in an environmentally responsible way, but to put us on a path to lower gas prices, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and create good paying jobs in our state.”

Rockefeller’s Future Fuels Act of 2008 expands incentives for the development of clean coal technologies, establishes incentives to capture highly explosive methane gas to keep coal miners safe, and creates a low-cost coal-to-liquid program to develop transportation fuels.

The Rockefeller bill also puts in motion a comprehensive research, development, demonstration, and deployment program to achieve large-scale carbon capture and sequestration. The Future Fuels Act would provide the resources needed to develop commercial-scale carbon sequestration demonstration projects, with the goal of storing one million tons of carbon dioxide annually. The bill also authorizes funding to develop new pipeline networks connecting the coalfields to the gas pump and to carbon sequestration locations.

“Carbon capture and sequestration is one of the greatest environmental challenges of this century. We absolutely have to put the best minds we have on the task of coming up with ways to figuring out a solution to this problem,” Rockefeller said. “Government should be providing the funding for the work, but it should not be dictating the solution.”

Toward that end, the Future Fuels Act creates a new Future Fuels Corporation (FFC). The FFC would be a privately-run, but government-financed, massive research facility that brings together the best and brightest scientific experts to accelerate the production and deployment of carbon capture and sequestration technologies.

Senator Rockefeller has long-supported efforts that would promote clean West Virginia coal as an alternative domestic fuel source. During this Congress alone, he’s worked with other coal state Senators to promote coal-to-liquid development that must meet modern environmental standards. He’s also pushed to extend the alternative fuel tax credit for coal-to-liquids, and promoted coal-based jet fuel in legislation he authored earlier this year to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration.