By BILL RANEY, PRESIDENT
West Virginia Coal Association
It appears Barack Obama didn’t learn anything from his resounding defeat this past November. In fact, it appears he and his administration are “doubling-down’ on their efforts to ram through their radical anti-job agenda. If they can’t do it by passing legislation, they seem determined to bypass the Constitution altogether and impose their agenda through over-reaching regulation and rule-making.
Perhaps the most egregious example of Obama’s use of regulatory agencies as weapons to stymie economic growth is the U.S. EPA. Since taking office in January 2009, the Obama Administration has relentlessly pursued their anti-coal, anti-business agenda, strangling the American economy with radical policies and rules. Even in the best of economic times, these policies would hamstring American business. Combined with the current worldwide economic challenges, the EPA’s war against business threatens millions of jobs and the very foundation of our economy. And it appears neither Obama nor his EPA cares about the damage they are doing. Their only allegiance, it seems, is to their selfish political agenda.
The latest line of attack came over the Christmas holiday, when the EPA announced it would impose “restrictions” on emissions from power plants and oil refineries. These “restrictions” will drive up energy prices for everyone and destroy jobs at a time when so many American families are struggling to make ends meet. West Virginia families will be among the hardest hit by these new regulations.
Congress would not pass “Cap-and-Trade” but the EPA is going to do the same thing by “bullying” through regulation. It is arrogant and it is wrong! It is essentially saying “… in your face, Congress!”
Does the EPA care about West Virginia jobs? Does Obama care about West Virginia families? Apparently not. In fact, it appears the EPA doesn’t even consider the economic impact of their policies. This is “environmental injustice” for working Americans, their aging parents and their young families.
West Virginia coal mining families know all-too-well that the Obama EPA wants to take away their jobs and their way of life. They’re seeing the threat creep closer each day as existing mining permits expire and new ones seem impossible to get. To them, these policies are a direct attack on them, their children and their communities.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, (D-WV) has proposed a two-year moratorium on EPA with regard to greenhouse gas emissions rulemaking. Without the Rockefeller bill, these new regulations could cripple the nation’s ability to pull itself out of the recession.
Rockefeller’s plan is a start – but it is only a start. EPA must be stopped from trying to do Congress’ work.
We believe the EPA must be required to take into account the economic impacts when making rules and regulations. It is clearly unfair to force Americans to bear the cost of regulations intended to address an unproven threat. It is unfair to ask West Virginians to shoulder the burden of such costs when the effort would make little or no impact on the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
And keep in mind … we are talking about CO2, carbon dioxide, the same thing we all exhale with every breath. How harmful can that be?
Whether the issue is greenhouse gas emissions or the issuance of mining permits, Obama and the EPA must be held accountable to the American people for their actions.
A new president takes an oath “… to preserve, protect and defend” the people of the United States. Contrary to the actions of Obama and the EPA, this includes the people of West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania! As a regulatory agency under the authority of the executive branch, the EPA is bound by that same oath. Yet, the Obama Administration and this EPA seem willing to sacrifice American jobs and the entire American economy for their radical political agenda.
We urge you to call or write your Congressional representatives and your senators and ask them to support the Rockefeller bill to impose a two-year moratorium on the EPA! Ask them to help stop the radical agenda of the Obama Administration and the EPA. We all must put American jobs and American families first!