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[Page H4042]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
OBAMA'S WAR ON COAL
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Kentucky (Mr. Rogers) for 5 minutes.
Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, American coal families are under
attack, not from a foreign power or a natural disaster, but by an
administration that has resolutely, perversely, and now overtly
proposed to end coal mining and coal-fired power generation in these
United States.
President Obama's calamitous climate change plan announced yesterday
is the latest job-killing bomb to be dropped on Kentucky, West
Virginia, Illinois, and dozens of coal States already knocked down
after 4 years of administration policies. This administration has used
code words like ``streamlining'' and ``permit reviews'' to shell our
communities with regulations and red tape that even the most
sophisticated businesses can't adhere to.
Now the White House is dismantling our strategic energy advantage and
unilaterally disarming our economy in broad daylight. I quote White
House climate adviser Daniel Schrag straight out of the White House:
``A war on coal is exactly what's needed.''
Mr. Speaker, a war on coal is exactly what is not needed. A war on
coal is a war on middle class Americans. It's a war on jobs, all kinds
of jobs. It's already claimed 5,700 direct Kentucky jobs in just a year
and a half, the vast majority of those in my economically challenged
district.
There is no recovery in Inez or high-tech boom in Harlan, Mr.
President. My families are struggling to get back to work, pay their
bills, or find salaries comparable to coal mining. And my communities
are losing their main employers. This climate plan makes the situation
worse, dimming the prospects of reopening the mines even further.
Moreover, this disastrous climate change plan is a plan for America's
economic and security decline. This plan would only lead to higher
electric bills and increased dependence on foreign enemy sources. And
to think someone has the audacity to say, ``We need a war on coal.''
Well, what we need is a war on that line of thinking.
This administration's stringent rules and absurd mandates are simply
meant to force coal-fired power plants to stop burning coal or shutter
the facilities altogether. I call it strangulation by regulation.
{time} 1010
Mr. Speaker, more than 200 coal plants have already closed across 25
States, and now seven new EPA regulations are on track to do even more
damage. I'm losing one of the biggest employers in Lawrence County to
this onslaught--1,200 good-paying jobs.
In total, the closure of mines, shuttering of power plants, and
resulting hikes in electric rates are expected to cost the U.S. economy
some 887,000 jobs per year. Please tell me how this is in our national
interest, how this is leading America forward. In 2008, the President
promised to bankrupt the coalfields. And yesterday, he took a giant
step toward that reckless, shameful goal.
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