US airs $20 billion setup to increase use of coal

The Carter administration promised a strong commitment to coal Monday and said it had a $20 billion program to show it means business. "Coal is the centerpiece of the President's plan to reduce foreign oil," Stuart Eizenstat, domestic affairs assistant to the President, told the White House Coal Advisory Council's initial meeting. He said the administration was launching a giant effort to take coal shale and convert it to synthetic gas and oil -- producing by the the year 2000 between 1 1/2 million and 2 million barrels of fuel per day "that no one can embargo."