08.03.15

The War On Coal: Electricity Rates Will Necessarily Skyrocket

‘The Main Target: Coal,’ Coal Families, & ‘Your Power Bill’

 

‘The Rule Would Drive Electricity Bills Up’

“LOSERS: - YOUR POWER BILL … The National Association of Manufacturers, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, the National Mining Association, the American Energy Alliance and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association all predicted the rule would drive electricity bills up.” (“Who Wins And Loses Under Obama's Stricter Power Plant Limits,” AP, 8/3/15)

“On Monday, the Obama administration takes on the coal industry with the final version of rules it has dubbed the Clean Power Plan, a complex scheme designed to reduce, on a state-by-state basis, the amount of greenhouse gases the nation’s electric power sector emits. The main target: coal.” (“New EPA Rule On Greenhouse Gases The Latest Blow To King Coal,” The Washington Post, 8/1/15)

  • “All this talk about killing coal hasn’t helped coal mining companies. Over the past 15 months, Walter Energy Inc., Patriot Coal Corp. and James River Coal Co. have filed for bankruptcy, hit by particularly sharp drops in coal used in the manufacture of metallurgical coal needed for making steel. Alpha Natural, a major supplier to power plants, is teetering and is contemplating bankruptcy, too, according to Bloomberg News.” (“New EPA Rule On Greenhouse Gases The Latest Blow To King Coal,” The Washington Post, 8/1/15)

“President Barack Obama will impose even steeper cuts on greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. power plants than previously expected, senior administration officials said Sunday.” (“Obama To Require Steeper Emissions Cuts From US Power Plants,” AP, 8/2/15)

 

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: ‘A War On Coal Is Exactly What’s Needed,’ ‘Make Examples Out Of People’

DANIEL P. SCHRAG, White House Climate Adviser: ‘A war on coal is exactly what’s needed’ “The one thing the president really needs to do now is to begin the process of shutting down the conventional coal plants. …a war on coal is exactly what’s needed.” (The New York Times, 6/25/13)

Obama EPA Official: ‘Make examples out of people’ “The Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go into a little Turkish (sic) town somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them. And then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. And so you make examples out of people...” (Forbes, 4/26/12)

THEN-SEN. BARACK OBAMA: “Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket, even, you know, regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad, because I'm capping greenhouse gases, coal powered plants, you know, natural gas, you name it, whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.” (The San Francisco Chronicle, 1/17/08)

THEN-SEN. BARACK OBAMA: “So if somebody wants to build a coal fired plant they can, it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they are going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that is being emitted.” (The San Francisco Chronicle, 1/17/08)

“Regulations for new coal plants would increase electricity prices by as much as 80 percent, an Obama administration official told lawmakers on Tuesday. Julio Friedmann, deputy assistant secretary for clean coal at the Department of Energy, told members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight board that carbon capture and storage technology was still not ready for prime time.” (Washington Examiner, 2/11/14)

 

‘Examples’ Made In Kentucky: 20,000+ Impacted By Democrat War On Coal Families

“…in coal country, the changes have meant layoffs. Nowhere has been hit harder than eastern Kentucky, where more than 6,000 miners have lost their jobs since January 2012. For each mining job, there are estimated to be at least three directly related jobs, like trucking, that also disappear.” (Fox News, 1/16/14)

  • “According to [Bill] Bissett, [the president of the Kentucky Coal Association] the coal industry has lost more than 6,000 direct jobs, and 18,000 people indirectly connected to the coal industry are out of work. Coal production in Eastern Kentucky is down 30 percent...” (Commonwealth Journal [KY], 1/7/14)

 

COAL MINER: ‘Never Know From Day To Day If You Are Going To Have A Job’

GARY LOCKHART, Coal Miner: “Our biggest worries now are just trying to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table, telling your family that this was all caused by the EPA, directed by our President for his political agenda.” (Coal Listening Session, Kentucky, 12/6/13)

PHILLIP CONLEY, Coal Miner: “I just believe the Obama administration has taken a huge impact on the coal industry and Appalachia. Anymore, you just never know from day to day if you are going to have a job or not.” (Fox News, 1/16/14)

HOWARD ABSHIRE, Coal Miner: “I say to you, Mister President of the United States… We're hurting.  You say you're the president of the people?  Well we're people too. No one loves the mountains no more than we do. We live here. We crawl between them. We get up every morning and we go on top of a mountain in a strip job in the cold rain, snow, to put bread on the table.” (Coal Listening Session, Kentucky, 12/6/13)

  • ABSHIRE: “Come and look at our little children, look at our people, Mr. President. You're not hurting for a job; you've got one. I don't have one.” (Coal Listening Session, Kentucky, 12/6/13)

JUSTINE BRADFORD, Teacher: “Dear EPA:  Will you please tell Santa Claus all we want for Christmas this year is to be able to work. Here in Eastern Kentucky we too are real people.” (Coal Listening Session, Kentucky, 12/6/13)

 

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SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Related Issues: Coal, Economy, Energy, Jobs, Regulations, Middle Class