McCain Pool Report on CONSOL Energy Tour

McCain Pool Report #1
7/9/08
CEO Discussion at CONSOL Energy

South Park, Pa.

No Real News

John and Cindy McCain were sitting with Brett Harvey, CEO of CONSOL Energy, at the front of a t-shaped conference table, looking forward at a power-point presentation. Nine people in total at the conference table, with baskets of Danish and muffins spread throughout. Carly Fiorina and John Taylor sat in a chair off to the side; Brooke Buchanan and Mark Salter entered during the meeting. All were sitting on 70s era orange, yellow and green chairs, think of the colors of the D.C. Metro.

The slideshow presentation lasted about 10 minutes, and featured details of where coal reserves can be found in the United States, which is the cleanest, and comparisons to other fuel types and other countries. (I have a copy of the slides if anyone wants)

McCain asked questions throughout the presentation, repeatedly prefaced with, "there's no such things as a dumb question." He asked about the different types of coal, and which were the dirtiest.

Harvey: "The United States has really led the way in how we use coal, but there is more to be done." "It's our ace in the hole in terms of energy."

McCain then asked about competition from China and the potential for nuclear power. Harvey responded and said to use nuclear as the base form of power in the country, we would need to build 300 more nuclear power plants.

McCain then asked about natural gas and was told it was a limited resource.

McCain asked "what do we need to do to address the CO2?" to utilize coal technology. McCain: "The environmentalists are frankly as committed on this issue as you are, because they see we have to use coal."

McCain then asked about liquefaction, and said he believed it was 30 percent more expensive. Harvey told him "not really, you need to go through the process to turn it into something."

He then held a conversation with John Goodish, executive vice president of operations for U.S. Steel, mostly about a factory they are opening in Alabama. McCain remarked that the community was excited about the plant and the jobs it would be providing, because it was a poor community.

McCain said the "Europeans have stumbled on cap and trade" And asked about the prospects of a carbon tax: "Would you rather have just a carbon tax? That's what Tom Friedman, others are advocating. Who's taxed? The average citizens at the pump." Harvey replied that "you have a choice of carbon tax or cap and trade."

McCain said he would like to schedule another meeting, and said he would be returning to Pennsylvania for various reasons. "We need to talk more about this. I'm going to have a town hall meeting this afternoon and the first issue will be the price of gas."

McCain shook hands with the participants, and apologized for the short length of the meeting. He and Goodish continued a conversation, where he praised U.S. Steel for the new Alabama facility.

Pool was taken out of the room behind McCain, who was taken to a hold. The tour of the lab was cancelled, we were told, so we were ushered to the tour of the silo.