The country needs to rely less on natural gas and more on coal to protect against cyber attacks on the electric grid, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt said Wednesday.
"Utility companies across this country need fuel diversity," Pruitt said in an interview on Fox Business Network's "Varney & Co."
"You need solid hydrocarbons on-site that you can store, so when peak demand rises, you’ve got solid hydrocarbons to draw on," Pruitt said. "What would happen if we had an attack on our infrastructure when you've diverted to natural gas almost exclusively and you don't have coal there as a safeguard to preserve the grid?"
Pruitt told guest host Charles Payne it is a smart strategy to invest in technology and innovation, burn coal, burn natural gas, use renewables and advance nuclear power, "But it truly needs to be a part of the fuel diversity with utilities across the country."
Arguing that the United States should exit the Paris climate accord, Pruitt said America already is leading the world with its CO2 footprint without regulations such as the Clean Power Plan.
"What's interesting about the reduction of our CO2 footprint is that it’s been accomplished without any government mandate," he said.
President Donald Trump has vowed since the campaign to bring coal production back following what Republicans termed a "war on coal" by the Obama White House.
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