Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 04/2009

Clean Coal: U.S.-China Cooperation in Energy Security

David Wendt

May 2008

EastWest Institute

Abstract

The United States and China are in dire need of secure energy solutions that can keep pace with their large appetites for energy. Both countries possess abundant coal reserves, but the approach to coal policy has favored cheap extraction over serious consideration of the societal costs of coal. This paper studies the use of coal in the two countries and recommends steps they can take to make coal productive, sustainable and environmentally responsible,