The mining industry must fight the federal climate legislation Congress is now considering and seek investment in carbon capture technology, National Mining Association President Hal Quinn said Thursday. Quinn addressed the Wyoming Mining Association convention in Laramie.

LARAMIE, Wyo. - The mining industry must fight the federal climate legislation Congress is now considering and seek investment in carbon capture technology, National Mining Association President Hal Quinn said Thursday.

Quinn addressed the Wyoming Mining Association convention in Laramie.

"When policymakers, politicians and pundits ask 'Why is this country losing high-wage jobs? Why is U.S. manufacturing moving offshore?' We must remind them why: it's the unavoidable consequence of industrial and environmental policies that penalize coal production and mineral mining," Quinn said.

Quinn said moderate Democrats already are finding it politically hard during a recession to vote for legislation that he said would boost the energy bills of households and factories.

U.S. firms will have a tough time making ends meet and competing against companies in China if their costs of doing business increases too much, he said.

"We're going to be like GM, our cost structure will be so high that we can't compete," Quinn said.

Congress is considering a bill that would impose the first-ever limits on greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

Coal-burning power plants are one of the sources of such gases, and Wyoming produces more coal than any other state in the nation.

Bruce Nilles, director of the Sierra Club's "Beyond Coal" campaign, said Quinn and other mining advocates are stuck in the past.

"American ingenuity and American workers can meet our energy needs without destructive mining, without massive amounts of air pollution, and without toxic coal ash sites threatening hundreds of communities nationwide," Nilles said in an e-mail.

Quinn said the National Mining Association doesn't oppose developing renewable energy, but believes it's unrealistic to expect new energy sources to completely replace coal because of increasing global energy demands.

Investing in technology to capture and store underground carbon emissions is the best and most reasonable answer to climate change, he said.

In addition, there will still be a need for other forms of mining, Quinn said.

He noted that the average hybrid car needs about 75 pounds of copper, and twice the amount of rare earth minerals than is found in conventional cars. And, a state-of-the-art wind turbine contains 335 tons of steels, 4.7 tons of copper and three tons of aluminum, he said.

Quinn said the mining industry needs to mobilize all its resources to argue its case that coal and other minerals are needed to meet future power needs and keep electric bills affordable.

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