Dear President Obama,

Please oppose the construction of new coal-fired power plants that lack the ability to capture and store their carbon dioxide. Building new pulverized coal plants would lock the United States into decades of dangerous carbon emissions that will make it extremely difficult to avoid the worst consequences of global warming.

Funding of carbon capture and storage technology should be limited to 5 to 10 demonstration plants until the technology is proven to be safe, reliable and cost-effective.

Analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists has found that the country can meet its near-term energy needs and curb emissions by using readily available renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. I urge you to support more aggressive deployment of these cleaner, safer technologies.

Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of global warming pollution in the United States--yet right now, our country is poised to build many new dirty coal plants. 

Virtually all of these proposed, new coal plants lack carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, which aims to capture a plant's carbon emissions and store it underground. Building more plants without CCS would lock us into decades of rising carbon emissions at a time when we must rein in global warming pollution. 

We already have renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies readily available that can meet our country's near-term energy needs. Please urge Congress to oppose the construction of new coal-fired power plants unless they feature CCS technology.