FACES of Coal and the West Virginia Coal Association joined to host Senator Joe Manchin, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and other state and local political and business leaders for a roundtable discussion about the Obama Administration’s “War on Coal” and the EPA’s multiple front assault through air rules and the uncertainty of the NPDES situation.
The discussion took place at Walker Machinery in Belle. The group discussed the specifics of the EPA’s rules, policies and efforts to kill Appalachian coal both, mining and burning. Follow-up strategies are being developed.
THE FACTS:
- America’s coal-burning power plants emit an estimated 41-48 tons of mercury per year.
- U.S. forest fires emit at least 44 tons per year
- Cremation of human remains discharges 26 tons
- Chinese power plants eject 400 tons
- Volcanoes, subsea vents, geysers and other sources spew out 9,000-10,000 additional tons per year.
- Since our power plants account for less than 0.5% of all the mercury in the air we breathe, eliminating every milligram of it will do nothing about the other 99.5% in our atmosphere.
The COST:
According to Americans for Prosperity, “This rule (MACT) will impose significant costs on the American economy. The EPA itself estimates annual compliance costs of $11 billion, but independent estimates range much higher. NERA Economic Consulting predicts that the rule will cost the electricity-generation industry $17.8 billion per year, shutting down coal plants and driving up electricity prices by 12 percent nationwide and as much as 24 percent in certain regions. This will ultimately cost the American economy more than 1.4 million jobs. Shutting down coal plants and causing electricity prices to rise even higher is simply the wrong thing to do when American families are already suffering from high energy prices.”
We urge you to contact Senators Rockefeller and Manchin and ask them to vote for the Inhofe CRA. It only requires 30 senators to bring it to a floor vote, and needs a majority of 51 for passage.