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A Resolution of the Allegheny County Council urging the placement of a new coal gasification plant in the Mon Valley of Allegheny County.
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WHEREAS, both President Bush and Governor Ed Rendell have recently indicated that energy is one of the most important issues facing our nation and Commonwealth today; and
WHEREAS, new and currently available technologies can produce electricity, natural gas, and diesel fuel from coal, all without the significant pollution that had previously accompanied coal burning; and
WHEREAS, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia produce nearly twenty percent of the nation's total mined coal and just under half of the coal mined east of the Mississippi river; and
WHEREAS, critical resources such as abundant water supplies, carbon dioxide disposal capabilities, and vital infrastructure including existing rail and river travel routes and ready highway access that are necessary for using of this technology to the fullest extent are all available in the Monongahela Valley area of Allegheny County; and
WHEREAS, the area is home to world class research universities already doing significant energy conservation work, as well as two of only five National Energy Technology Laboratories, and the largest privately owned fossil fuel research facility in the world; and
WHEREAS, the Monongahela Valley's proud industrial history and tradition of coal mining render it perhaps the most perfect of locations for a new coal gasification facility;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby resolves as follows:
SECTION 1.
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is hereby requested to institute the undertaking of a comprehensive evaluation of the available sites in the Monongahela Valley area of Allegheny County for existing sites that could potentially be used for the construction of a modern bituminous coal gasification facility, as well as to engage in site acquisition for such a facility with all deliberate spee...
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