Published: Sunday, June 12, 2011, 5:30 AM

By Patriot-News Op-Ed The Patriot-News

By George Ellis

President Obama came to Pennsylvania two days after announcing his re- election campaign to give a speech on America's energy future. The visit was a reminder of Pennsylvania's importance in presidential politics and the significance that energy issues will have in the 2012 campaign for the White House.

For President Obama to win re-election, he likely needs to earn Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes. To do that, he will need to convince Pennsylvanians that his administration has an energy plan that deals with spiraling costs and has a vision for how to power our future.

High energy costs are hitting Pennsylvanians hard. In 2009, Pennsylvania households with annual incomes below $50,000, almost half of Pennsylvanians, spent an estimated 18 percent of their average after-tax income on energy. Energy costs claimed 62 percent of the average after-tax incomes of the commonwealth's poorest households earning less than $10,000.

High energy costs are burdening too many families in Pennsylvania. The situation is not improving, especially at the gas pump. The unease in the Middle East has hiked gasoline prices to almost $3.70 per gallon nationally. To think about the strain this is putting on pocketbooks, consider that a gallon of gasoline was $1.47 in 2001.

It was against this backdrop that the president came to Pennsylvania to lay out a vision for our energy future. The president said that by 2035 he wants 80 percent of our electricity to come from renewables such as wind and solar, as well as from natural gas, clean coal and nuclear power.

"We can do that," the president said.

We can, and the president was right to say we need coal to do it.

The president spoke in Bucks County at a wind turbine plant owned by a company based in Spain. Energy derived from renewable sources such as wind and solar are important and helpful to our base load electrical power grid, but make no mistake, coal carries the load.

To understand where our power comes from, here's some numbers. In Pennsylvania, more than half our electricity is generated by coal. The other half comes in like this: nuclear about a third, natural gas about one-eighth. Renewables such as wind and solar account for only a small percentage.

All sources are necessary, but without coal playing the anchor role, the math to keeping our power grid functioning and affordable simply doesn't work. The wind does not always blow and the sun does not always shine.

In his remarks here, the president talked about the importance of reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy. Fortunately, we have enough coal in the United States to last 250 years. On an energy equivalent basis, the 5,441 quadrillion BTUs of American coal surpasses the 4,446 quadrillion BTUs of Middle Eastern oil.

With a resource base of more than 24 billion tons, coal is by far Pennsylvania's most abundant indigenous fuel source. Pennsylvania can continue to look to this fuel as a secure source to satisfy the commonwealth's need for affordable, reliable and increasingly clean energy. In fact, from 1970 to 2009, coal generation has increased by 225 percent while emissions of regulated pollutants have decreased by 77 percent.

Pennsylvania is the nation's fourth-leading coal-producing state, mining 60 million tons in 2009. In addition, the mining industry is a major contributor to Pennsylvania's economy.

In 2008, its economic benefit to the commonwealth exceeded $7 billion, and it is responsible for the creation of 41,500 direct and indirect jobs, with a payroll exceeding $2.2 billion. Taxes on these wages netted over $700 million to the coffers of federal, state and local governments. And 59 of our 67 counties have coal-related businesses. Coal equipment and machinery is one of the few industrial sectors in our state experiencing growth.

Coal is a key to Pennsylvania's economy. It employs our citizens and it keeps electricity prices affordable for our businesses and working families struggling to make ends meet.

We'll probably be seeing a good bit of the president in Pennsylvania until November 2012. Hopefully, he will continue to speak to the key role of coal in America's and Pennsylvania's energy futures.

George Ellis is president of the Pennsylvania Coal Association.