Mead: Wyoming should explore China coal exports

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead sits in his office at the State Capitol in Cheyenne, Wyo. on Friday, June 15, 2012. Mead recently returned from a meeting on clean coal technology in China.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Gov. Matt Mead returned from China this week confident that Wyoming should continue exploring how to export coal to meet that nation's growing demand.

Mead and other Wyoming officials represented the state at the 2012 International Advanced Coal Technologies Conference in China. Officials from China and representatives from Australia's national science agency also attended.

Mead told The Associated Press Friday that China is ahead of the United States in employing advanced coal technologies in construction of gasification plants.

But Mead says China is clearly lagging behind in environmental controls. He says the air quality in many places was visibly worse than what he's used to in the United States.

Proposals to export Wyoming coal have run into opposition in some West Coast states over concern about environmental issues.

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