In connection with his visit to Wyoming this week, Bruton, head of the European Union Commission Delegation to the United States, issued a statement urging the United States to turn Wyoming's coal into a cleaner business using carbon sequestration.

Wyoming set a state record in coal production for 2006, producing 446 million tons of coal, which amounts to about one-third of total U.S. coal production. Wyoming also has the highest level of carbon dioxide emissions per capita of any U.S. state as coal burning is its major source of electricity, Bruton said.

"But my message to Gov. (Dave) Freudenthal and other state officials is not that they need to stop producing coal," he said. "Coal is such a cheap source of energy that it is unrealistic for us to scrap it in favor of other energy sources. However, given the damaging environmental effects from coal-fired power stations around the world, we need to step up our efforts to make carbon sequestration a financially viable solution."

Bruton said that the proposed reform of the EU's Cap & Trade system could be applied in the United States to help meet environmental goals.