WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- Coal-producing U.S. states are feeling suffocated by lagging technology that has not allowed coal to be burned more cleanly, a news report said.
Stateline.com reported Monday that last year 59 proposals for coal plants were abandoned in 24 states either by state officials or by utilities amid concern over the future costs of pollution.
Many governors in mining states are calling for improved technology to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Among technologies being pursued is one that turns carbon dioxide into synthetic natural gas, the news site said.
"Whether you believe in global warming or not, the political and economic realities have changed, and Wyoming needs to adapt to those changes," Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, was quoted as saying.
Stateline reported that 17 states already provide financial incentives to encourage cleaner coal-burning technology.
The federal Energy Information Administration says coal is now burned in more than 600 plants to generate 49 percent of the nation's current electricity, with most of that fuel consumed in the upper Great Lakes and Southeastern states.
