By: Rep. Shelley Moore Capito

Through the Environmental Protection Agency, Washington continues to push an anti-coal agenda. It amounts to an assault on an industry that employs more than 500,000 hardworking Americans and supplies nearly half of America’s electricity.

The EPA’s attempts to control climate change through regulation and stall the approval of mining permits can only lead to coal states like West Virginia bearing the brunt of poorly thought-out policies that translate into greater job loss and higher energy costs.

President Barack Obama is intent on passing legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions. Should Congress fail to act, the EPA will exert its regulatory authority in an unprecedented manner that will have far-reaching effects on nearly every sector of the U.S. economy — from higher prices at the gas pump to skyrocketing utility bills.

Herbert E. Jones, Jr., past president of Amherst Coal Company and former officers of Amherst Industries, Inc. passed away yesterday morning after a long illness.  Herb served as Chairman of the Association for a number of terms and his family and businesses were both great supporters of the coal industry and Association. 

Funeral arrangements are incomplete at the time.  We will keep you posted.

Last week Chris Hamilton and Jason Bostic gave separate presentations to the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Inspectors General regarding the agency’s regulation of coal mining operations in Appalachia.  Chris and Jason were part of a discussion panel that also included West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) Secretary Randy Huffman and Cindy Rank of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.  Copies of the presentations given by Chris and Jason are available from jbostic@wvcoal.com

West Virginia Coal Association Senior Vice President Chris Hamilton led a delegation of the Mine Safety Committee to meet with members of the U.S. House and Senate and their respective staffs July 8-9 regarding mine safety proposals recently outlined by Congress.  We hope to have a more complete report on the meetings in the next issue of Coal Bits.

The Association is scheduled to meet with representatives from the Government Accountability Office next week to discuss the review process for mining-related Clean Water Act Section 404 permits in the wake of the June 1, 2009 federal Memorandum of Understanding that established new review and comment processes for EPA in the Corps’ permitting processes.  For more information, contact jbostic@wvcoal.com