The Trump administration is considering forming an organization to promote coal and natural gas, E&E News reported Tuesday.
Citing a document it obtained from a Trump administration source, E&E News described draft talking points for a “Clean and Advanced Fossil Fuel Alliance.” The publication reported that the proposal came in response to a coalition of more than 20 countries, launched at the United Nations climate conference in Bonn, Germany last year, aiming to phase out coal power.
The United States, at the same conference in Bonn, hosted an event called “The Role of Cleaner and More Efficient Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power in Climate Mitigation.” It was interrupted by anti-coal protesters. David Banks, who presented at the event as a representative of the Trump administration, told E&E News that French President Emmanuel Macron’s “head essentially exploded” over the White House’s fossil fuel advocacy.
“That sent us a very clear signal that if we were to have a rational discussion about energy and climate discussion, we were going to have to create a new platform,” Banks told E&E News, seemingly referring to the proposed organization.
The proposed organization, the document obtained by E&E News said, is “particularly important as many nations seek aggressive energy policies, which call for the decreased reliance on traditional baseload capacity” through “narrowly focused and often unrealistic policies within international energy fora.” It would “explore the vast potential of clean and advanced fossil fuels, specifically clean coal and natural gas.”
The document reviewed by E&E News says international institutions “should be celebrating all forms of energy and seek to constantly improve on them all.”
Read E&E News’ full report here.
