CHARLESTON -- The West Virginia Coal Association would like offer its thanks to the new leadership of the West Virginia Legislature for its quick action this week in rescinding HB103, otherwise what had become commonly referred to as the State's Cap-and-Trade Act.
"We are happy to see the quick action our new Legislature has taken," said WVCA President Bill Raney. "At a time when so many of our coal miners are out of work, we believe having a law in place that requires less usage of coal is simply unacceptable. And at a time when electric bills are going up 15-20 percent, money that is coming out of the pockets of the very families whose breadwinners are laid off from mining and support jobs, is incomprehensible.
"We are hopeful that Gov. Tomblin will approve this legislation, which is the first step in many that need to be taken in making every attempt to get more of our people back to work" Raney said.
“A lot of the problems are coming from Washington and the EPA," Raney said. "And we are working with our delegation to Washington to fix them. But there are many things that we can do right here in West Virginia that will help our coal industry be more competitive -- even in the face of the Obama EPA and its war on coal. We are hopeful that many of these issues will be addressed by the Legislature this Session."