The Coal Association is pleased with the selection of Mr. Pruitt and we look forward to working with EPA under the leadership of the new administrator to return the nation's environmental regulatory programs to the appropriate balance of authority between the federal government and individual state agencies.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has worked with Pruitt on the state's fight against federal overreach, so we are confident the EPA will be in the hands of someone who will examine all aspects of environmental protection, including the impact regulations have on our state's coal miners.
It's clear based on Pruitt's experiences in Oklahoma that he has an appreciation for our frustrations in West Virginia where the authority of the democratically elected state legislature and the governor was assumed by unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats that colluded with anti-coal extremist organizations to restrict our nation's coal production.
