No one dreamed four decades ago, back in the days of the Great Society, that the fledgling Appalachian Regional Commission might hold a future key to unlock the door to America’s elusive freedom from the trap of foreign oil.

That is exactly what the crafters of the ARC funding measure have in mind, as Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., outlined Tuesday in the House’s approval of an $85 million funding measure. The original bill calling for $65 million was fattened by $20 million when it passed through the Senate Appropriations Committee’s chairman, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, also D-W.Va.

“We have at our fingertips the chance to help forge a better solution,” Rahall said.

In mind are grants channeled through the ARC, created in the presidency of Lyndon Johnson as an anti-poverty agency in 13 states making up Appalachia, as a means of financing research to convert coal to liquids.

Not only are grants possible, but Rahall said the bill would provide technical assistance, allow contracts to be undertaken, and would finance projects that would increase the use of renewable energy, especially biomass, to provide alternative transportation fuels.

“This is extremely important in helping make a commercial coal-to-liquids industry a reality in this country,” the 3rd District congressman said.

“The use of biomass with coal in the conversion process can sharply cut carbon emissions of coal-to-liquids fuels.”

Rahall pointed to a Princeton University study that concluded the mixing of 30 percent biomass with coal in the conversion process, and capturing and sequestering the carbon dioxide, coal-to-liquids fuel can be produced cleaner than conventional fuels are now.

Another key component of the ARC proposal is designed to support development of conventional energy resources, such as coal, in electricity production, employing advanced greenhouse gas reduction technologies.

“More plainly,” Rahall told his House colleagues, “it would help to advance projects which would capture and store carbon emissions, a necessity to our continued use of coal and other fossil fuels throughout the foreseeable future.”

Rahall gave equal importance to both components of the ARC bill.

“In this age of increasing energy need and growing carbon awareness, it makes sense that such an initiative would find a home in Appalachia, a region in which much of the economy is intertwined with coal,” he said.

Rahall said the development of coal-to-liquids fuel would guarantee the nation an advanced and environmentally sound alternative to transportation fuels.

As he spoke, gasoline was retailing for a historic $4.14 a gallon in the Beckley area.

What’s more, Rahall said the new fuels would prove “strategically beneficial” to the Department of Defense, now in pursuit of an alternative to existing fuel as a matter of national security. A year ago, Rahall discussed the coal-to-liquids strategy with officials of the Air Force, the largest consumer of fuel in the nation.

“I am proud to support this bill to get our nation beyond our reliance on foreign fuels and to get out people out from under the heavy hand of ‘Big Oil,’” he added.

— E-mail: mannix@

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