(Above: Sen. Jeff Sessions addresses coal miners protesting overburdensome EPA regulations)
Several thousand members of the coal industry organized a large protest on the West Lawn of the United States Capitol on Tuesday, blasting the overburdensome federal regulations that are straining their industry to the breaking point.
After the event, The Wall St. Journal offered some insightful background on the impetus of the rally and the political maneuvering the Obama White House is making as they ramp up their global warming agenda.
Sponsored by Count on Coal, an affiliate of the National Mining Association, the rally targeted recent regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency that place new limits on carbon-dioxide emissions for new coal and gas-fired power plants. Utilities will only be able to build new coal-fired plants if they use still-fledgling carbon capture technology, which is significantly more expensive.
The new rule is a key part of President Barack Obama‘s climate-change plan. Mr. Obama has said he wants to cut U.S. carbon emissions by 17% in 2020 from 2005 levels. As 2014 midterm elections approach, the EPA’s regulations will be a key issue, particularly in swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania where the coal industry has a heavy presence.
And you can add Alabama to the list of states where this has become a major issue.
In recent months we have seen environmental groups increase their activity in our state. They descended on the Alabama Public Service Commission — the entity that regulates the state’s energy sector. They showed up at the District offices of Alabama congressmen to give them Climate Change Denier “awards” and berate them for their support of the coal industry. And most recently, they filed a lawsuit to block a major development project in the Birmingham area.
Back in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, over 30 members of Congress joined the protest of the Obama Administration’s “War on Coal,” including Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile.
“We have thousands of great coal miners in Alabama and their future is in danger now,” Sessions said before launching into an explanation of how the EPA’s authority has been expanded in recent years.
Sen. Sessions saved his most stinging criticism for President Obama, who he said is the “point person” for the “extremists” in the environmentalist movement.
“[T]he president has an agenda… to bankrupt the coal industry,” Sessions proclaimed. “And he understood and said it would necessarily cause electricity rates to skyrocket.”
“This is driven by a group of leftist extremists… And the president is the point person for that,” Sessions continued. “And he’s using the regulatory power of the Environmental Protection Agency. Congress has made multiple attempts to block it.”
Toward the end of his speech, Alabama’s junior senator turned his attention to the “bureaucrats in the EPA,” expressing frustration that they have been given vast regulatory powers, but are not directly accountable to the American people.
“[I]t is not in accord with… the fundamental idea of America — that the people who regulate you are accountable to you, that you can vote [them] out of office,” Sessions said. “You can’t vote out bureaucrats in the EPA.”
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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