[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 28, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5574-H5580]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE IMPACTS OF COAL
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. McKinley) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Mr. McKINLEY. Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I ask unanimous consent
that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and
extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the topics of
this Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from West Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. McKINLEY. Mr. Speaker, tonight, we want to talk about these three
subjects as it relates to coal. You have already heard recent remarks
made a few minutes ago about the war on coal, but we want to talk about
the impacts of coal, the regulations, and the Clean Power Plan. That is
what we are going to be talking about tonight are these three primary
subjects.
I want to put things in perspective. We want to talk about how does
this coal industry--you hear us, many of us that come from coal
country, we have been fighting about coal, fighting for coal--why do we
do that?
Look at the impact. For those of you that aren't coming from a coal
community, now, we mine coal in 27 States, but just look at this, the
impact, what it has--between coal mining at $58 billion a year and then
the generation of power from coal totals $142 billion.
Now, maybe that doesn't mean a lot to a lot, but $142 billion, put
that in context with the automobile industry. All of us are familiar
with cars. We all hear the commercials on television. We know about the
discussion about how you have got to have the latest car.
This is bigger than the car industry. The automobile industry is $130
billion. That is why many of us, all across this country, are concerned
about this future of the coal industry. It is larger than the
automobile industry. I want you to understand that. Everyone should
make sure they grasp the impact of that.
This war on coal that many of us have been talking about for some
time, I want to make sure that people understand how it affects us
individually and affects a State like West Virginia.
{time} 1845
Just 7 years ago the unemployment rate in West Virginia was the
seventh best in the country. But after 7 years of a war on coal, after
regulation after regulation after regulation, West Virginia's
unemployment rate now has dropped and we are in the last place in the
Nation.
Think about that impact for all of us. You go from number 7 to 50th
in just 7 years. Combine that with the families of our coal miners.
Just in the past 3 years, 45 percent of the coal miners in West
Virginia have lost their jobs, 45 percent. These are people. These are
real people. They are not statistics.
The gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) uses this chart. He has
shown us over the years--my 5 years in Congress--he showed us that
these are the people we are talking about all over this country who are
losing their jobs.
But in West Virginia, 45 percent of them have lost--in the coalfields
of
[[Page H5575]]
West Virginia, the unemployment rate is staggering, and that hasn't
stopped the administration.
We are talking about unemployment rates in counties two and three
times the rate of the national figures: 13.5 percent, 13 percent, 12
percent, 10 percent. That is tough for a family, a community, a State,
all to be able to survive.
We keep talking about mines shutting down. I want people to
understand, when you shut down coal mines, you really affect a
community. These people all have families. When these men lose their
jobs, it affects other people.
The administration and the EPA can shut down our coal mining
industry. Yes, they can. They are doing a pretty good job of it, if
that was their intent, was to shut down and for people to lose their
jobs.
But think about it. When these men lose their jobs, it is not just
the coal miners who are losing their jobs. It is the other individuals
in the community.
We are talking about the railroad workers, the barge operators, the
trucking industry, all that come to pick up the coal at the mine to
take it to the power plant.
The machinists, the concrete suppliers, the people that put the
conveyor belts in, and the building that we have to do with it, all of
them lose their jobs. The timber industry.
Then go outside and talk to the school board when the school boards
are struggling to make ends meet because so many of their employers are
gone and their tax base is eroded with it. But, also, go to the grocery
store and find out that is the impact. Grocery stores, pharmacies,
restaurants, apartment buildings.
We have got a map that shows, again, the impact of this as we get
into this. We have got several speakers here tonight to talk more about
it.
This is a location of all the power plants across America. There are
over 500 coal-fired plants operating today around this country.
But just in the last month the Sierra Club, Bloomberg, Earthjustice,
and all have been touting the fact that they want by the year 2017 to
take one-third of those red dots off the map.
Almost a third of our capacity to generate electricity can be gone
because of the rules and the way some of the environmental groups are
pursuing this. One-third of them.
Now, in terms of grid reliability with this, you have to deal with
what they have talked about. If we continue to shut down coal-fired
power plants and don't replace them, whether that is with wind, solar,
or gas, our grid reliability is going to be in question.
How many times are we going to lose our power? FERC has already said
that, if we don't do something by 2017, they are saying the Midwest is
going to start experiencing rolling blackouts. So let's be careful with
this.
I am going to stop now. We have tried to frame some of the argument
about this history of how we got to this point that you are seeing the
frustration in Congress. But I wanted to put that again in context.
This industry is bigger than the automobile industry, but we don't
have the big communities. We don't have the Detroits and the Grand
Rapids. We just have Farmington, Lumberport, small towns that make up
the backbone of rural America. That is what we are trying to fight for.
I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson) for his comments.
Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Thank you to my colleague for yielding.
You made a comment just a minute about, you know, we don't have the
Detroits, we don't have the New Yorks, we don't have the big cities in
coal country.
We may not have those big cities in coal country, but I guarantee you
those big cities get some of their electricity from the coal that is
produced by the coal miners that live in our region.
Over the past 5 years, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation has
spent more than $10 million of its budget to pursue a wholesale rewrite
of one of the agency's regulatory programs.
Dubbed the ``stream protection rule'' by the agency, this massive
regulatory undertaking has little to do with protecting streams and
much more to do with riding roughshod over State regulatory programs.
This rule rewrite means more Americans will be out of work and that
electricity bills of hard-working families could increase.
As OSM's related draft environmental impact statement indicates, the
Appalachian Basin, home to thousands of Ohioans who depend on the coal
industry for their livelihood, to put food on their table, to put
clothes on their children, to send their children to school, could see
as many as 450 production-related jobs lost per year, with potential
adverse impacts of $37 million annually.
This appears to be of little concern to the administration, as
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell was recently quoted as characterizing
the job loss in coal country associated with this rule rewrite as
``minor.''
I invite Secretary Jewell to join me on a trip to any coal mine in
Ohio and directly tell the hard-working miners--look them in the eye
and tell them that this new rule has only minor impacts.
I will clear my schedule, and I will be available any day, anytime,
to go with her if she wants to come there.
Furthermore, this regulation omits and ignores the relevant input
from those stakeholders with the most expertise in regulating mining,
the States who have been doing it for years.
In fact, 9 of the 10 States originally involved in the rules
development have withdrawn their support due to OSM's exclusionary
tactics.
This is unacceptable, and it is why I urge the House to consider H.R.
1644, the STREAM Act, as soon as possible.
Introduced by my colleague from West Virginia, Alex Mooney, the
STREAM Act would direct the administration to conduct a comprehensive
study of the effectiveness of the Stream Buffer Zone Rule that has been
in place since 1983. We have been doing this for a long time and
protecting streams in the process.
While this study occurs, a prohibition on the promulgation of new
rules addressing the stream protection or stream buffers will be
implemented to ensure that the Secretary incorporates the findings of
the study into any future rulemaking.
This is just one example, Mr. McKinley, of the regulatory overreach
of this administration and its devastating impacts on coal miners, on
families that depend on the coal industry for their livelihoods, and
the businesses that depend on cost-affordable, reliable electricity
across our country.
I appreciate you giving me the time to share that.
Mr. McKINLEY. Thank you. You have been one of our stalwarts in
pushing this legislation for all 5 years you have been here on this.
So I know people across this country recognize the work that you are
doing on behalf of the coal miners and this whole industry.
Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. I am proud to be on your team.
Mr. McKINLEY. We have a host of other folks here to address the
issue. We have got this chart up. Eventually, we are going to get to
that in the next part of it.
But what we are talking about here is here are all the regulations.
These are all the regulations that are affecting the coal industry, the
manufacturing industry, all promulgated from the Clean Air Act. We will
get to that in a minute. But, in the meantime, let's hear from some
more individuals.
I yield to the gentleman from the Third District of West Virginia
(Mr. Jenkins).
Mr. JENKINS of West Virginia. Congressman McKinley, thank you for
your leadership as chair of the Coal Caucus. It does great work. I am
honored to be a part of it, and I am honored to work with you.
Mr. Speaker, as you well know and as the people of America need to
know, we are at a critical point in this war on coal, and it truly is a
war on coal.
Coal is vital to the people of West Virginia and to West Virginia's
economy and to this country. Coal supports many crucial investments in
southern West Virginia, in my congressional district.
Its revenues help support tourism, roads, and infrastructure. It will
make King Coal Highway a reality and make sure we do not have a bridge
to nowhere, like we already have in southern West Virginia.
[[Page H5576]]
Coal puts food on the table. Coal pays the bills. Coal supports
families. Coal generates the revenue that provides for our roads, our
schools, our police, and our fire departments. Coal keeps the lights
on.
But, sadly, this administration doesn't recognize the value of coal
or of the people who work to mine it. They are proposing regulation
after regulation to make it harder to mine coal, harder to burn coal,
and harder to produce affordable energy from coal.
We have lost an estimated 43 percent of our coal jobs in just the
last 6 years. While that is a sobering number, it is more than a
statistic.
Each one of those employees has responsibilities. They have bills.
They have families. They have rent or house payments. How will they
provide for themselves and others without their coal jobs?
We must stand up for West Virginia jobs, West Virginia energy, and
West Virginia coal. That is exactly what I am doing in Congress as a
member of the House Appropriations Committee.
At one hearing, I did ask EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to come to
West Virginia and listen to us. She declined. So I brought Logan County
coal miners to Washington to testify before Congress.
They shared how coal provides good paychecks to support their
families and how they are worried overregulation will put them out of
work.
I am working in Congress to ensure our miners will be able to provide
for their families and that our State still has access to affordable
domestic energy. I will continue to fight each and every day.
Thank you for your leadership.
Mr. McKINLEY. Thank you for your comments.
Before we go to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Congressman Kelly, I
just wanted to add, because you talked about education, that the Duke
Energy plant over in New Richmond, Ohio--the closure of that cost them
$1.5 million out of their school system, out of their property taxes,
with that.
You are absolutely right when we talk about the impact it is going to
have on schools when we start depriving that.
But then you have FirstEnergy's Albright plant. They lost $380,000.
The AEP plant over in Lockbourne, Ohio, is $406,000.
This is real money that is hurting the communities. It is depriving
our school systems of money, all pushing an ideology. So thank you for
joining this fight.
I yield now to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly).
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, it is about time. Time is
running out. I think right now we look at what is happening in coal
country and nothing could be more alarming than what is happening.
This is one promise the President kept. When he ran as a candidate,
he said: You can continue to generate electric power by burning coal.
But if you decide to go that way, we will bankrupt you. That is one
promise he has kept.
Now, in Pennsylvania alone, coal is responsible for over 40,000 jobs
and 40 percent of our electric power. The Associated Press calls it the
workhorse of America's power system.
But the extreme overreach by the EPA is threatening jobs and forcing
energy costs for families and manufacturers to skyrocket, which hurts
every single American. That is something I think the general public has
to understand.
While maybe they don't go down in those mines and while maybe they
don't bring that precious product out from underneath the ground and
while maybe they don't work in a coal-fired power plant, one thing they
do know is, when they hit that switch to turn on the power, it is
reliable because of coal.
Coal has always been the standard. Coal has always driven the fact
that we not only have coal that is abundant, we have coal that is
accessible and we have coal that is very affordable.
{time} 1900
Why in the world would we go away from this workhorse of America's
power system? That is one of the reasons we reintroduced the Coal
Country Protection Act; that is H.R. 2637.
It is just a commonsense bill that would stop any EPA regulations
from affecting America's power plants until four outcomes are achieved:
number one, no job losses; number two, no loss in GDP or economic
growth; number three, no higher electric rates; and, number four, no
interruption in the reliable delivery of electrical energy. These are
pretty commonsense goals.
Now, who would be able to verify that or who would certify? Well, the
Secretary of Labor could do it; the Congressional Budget Office could
do it; the Energy Information Administration could do it; the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission could do it, and the North American
Electric Reliability Corporation could do it.
You said about time. It is about time, but it is time not just for
the coal country people to stand up and fight for coal; it is time for
the whole country to stand up and fight for coal. It is well past the
midnight hour.
As we continue to shut down mines and lose jobs and shut down
communities and raise people's electric rates and then people at home
sit back and wonder: What are they doing in Washington? Why do they
continue to hurt us at every turn?
The answer is the people making some of this policy have never done
what you have done; they have never walked in your shoes; they have
never had to do what we have done in coal country to protect electric
power.
Why in the world would we do this now at a time when the country is
looking for jobs, at a time when the country is looking for less
dependence on foreign nations for energy? Why now? Why, Mr. President?
Why continue to push in the direction you have been pushing?
The bottom line is this is just not about coal country; this is about
our whole country.
Mr. McKinley, I would like to thank you for fighting this fight. The
5 years we have been here together, this has been something we fought
to go every day in every way and will continue to do.
It is time now for the people in America to also be heard. Please do
not sit in silence and suffer in silence when your voices need to be
heard. We need to have everybody standing up for coal, standing up for
the production of electricity that is affordable and reliable, and we
just need to look at where we are going and say: My goodness, the
people we sent to represent us, the people we sent to protect us, it is
time for them to stand up and do exactly what they took a pledge to do.
I thank you for all your efforts. I thank my colleagues for being
here tonight. This is something we will never give up on, we will never
walk away from. It has come to our shoulders. We can't ever walk away
from it because it is not an option.
Mr. McKINLEY. Mr. Speaker, I think one of the biggest shortcomings
here is I don't think other Members of Congress and I don't think the
American public understand the magnitude of this industry. That is why
I started off with that chart, to show you that between the coal and
the coal-fired electrical plants, it is larger than the automobile
industry.
Now, just walk with me, just imagine that if we told the automobile
industry that they had to cut back one-third of their capacity of cars,
but that is okay, they are going to say, because what we do is people
will ride bikes or they will take the train or the bus. That is not our
culture in America. They would fight back, too.
You and I are fighting--and the rest of these people that represent
our coal fields. We have enjoyed the cost of electricity coming from
low cost because of coal. In America, all across, we showed 49 of the
50 States burn coal--49--and this administration wants to stop that,
wants to cut back.
I would say, if you are going to cut back the coal industry, then
look at the automobile industry as well; if you are going to go after
one huge component of our economy, go after the automobile industry as
well with it.
Thank you very much for what you said.
We talked about a lot. Now, let's continue on.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Gibbs).
I think Congressman Gibbs from Ohio, I think you had some remarks you
wanted to make.
Mr. GIBBS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for holding this
Special Order on this very important topic.
[[Page H5577]]
In the very near future, this affects every Ohioan across the
country, but very soon, the EPA is expected to release its Clean Power
Plan. This is just another burdensome regulatory scheme that will
increase energy costs.
The Energy Information Administration--that is the government agency
dedicated to the impartial analysis of data--reported it will cause the
price of electricity rates to rise for consumers.
Ohio families are already stretching their budgets as much as they
can, struggling to make ends meet. Raising their monthly electric bills
is just going to make their struggle worse.
Earlier this month, the House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act, as
you know, to stop the implementation of a clean power plan while the
courts address the legal challenges to the plan and give Ohioans a
break from the EPA's heavy-handed regulations.
Sadly, the EPA's refusal to listen to the public and industry input
is not without precedent. When considering the redefinition of waters
of the United States rule, the agencies did not take into account the
opinions of their State partners. Within hours, 27 States and countless
organizations filed lawsuits challenging the rule.
Additionally, at the end of June, the Supreme Court found that the
EPA failed to consider compliance costs when proposing new rules for
power plants.
If the EPA continues to push forward with this plan, it will only
hurt those who want reliable, affordable energy. It is time to set
aside partisan agendas.
I encourage the EPA to start from scratch and work with the
stakeholders and industry partners to create a commonsense plan that
strengthens our energy infrastructure and safeguards our environment.
Again, Congressman McKinley, I thank you for holding this Special
Order today--and Mr. Speaker--because this affects a large region of
our country. I know you talked about, what, 400 coal-fired plants
across the country.
This is important to our economy, and you have to have reliable and
affordable energy for businesses to grow and create jobs. This Clean
Power Plan is going to lay around and strangle our businesses and put
people out of work across the Midwest and across my State in Ohio.
I thank you for doing this tonight.
Mr. McKINLEY. Thank you very much. Thank you for bringing up the
Ratepayer Protection Act because, as you know, after we followed the
MATS rule, after the Supreme Court ruled that unconstitutional, you
didn't hear the President complain because they had effectively
accomplished everything they wanted before that rule.
I am afraid that is why the importance of this Ratepayer Protection
Act is because, if we continue to shut down our coal power plants and
deprive our communities of taxpayer moneys to run our schools, then
that winds up--if it is ruled unconstitutional later on, then how do we
recover the moneys that we have lost? Can we reopen a school that was
closed because a community lost its operation? Do we recover? How do we
recover that? That is why it is important.
I am really glad you brought up the Ratepayer Protection Act because
we need to make sure that the courts have ruled before the action is
taken. You and I are going to be paying more for our utility bills as a
result of that if and until it is ruled unconstitutional. We know it is
coming; they know it is coming. Thank you for bringing that up.
Our next remarks we have are from one of our--I can't say one of our
newest Members, but he is a Member from Kentucky that has been very
outspoken. I appreciate very much Congressman Barr from Kentucky.
Can you share some thoughts tonight?
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr).
Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman, my colleague
and friend, from West Virginia for his leadership in the Congressional
Coal Caucus, to my colleagues from Pennsylvania and Ohio, and all over
the country representing coal-producing States where good people--men
and women--working in the coal mines literally power America.
They come from an industry--they work in the coal mines; they support
the coal miners--an industry that provides affordable and reliable
energy that powers the American economy and has been the backbone of
the American economy.
Instead of celebrating that industry, instead of applauding the
heroic work that these men and women do, day in and day out,
underground and above ground, what is the response of the Federal
Government over the last 6 years? It has been to singularly punish this
industry.
I can't think of an administration from either party in the history
of the United States that has singled out a single industry with the
level of vindictiveness, frankly, and targeted a single industry and
literally bankrupted many of these companies.
I don't understand it for a variety of reasons, but let me just share
with you a little bit about the coal industry in Kentucky. We could
very well be the poster child for demonstrating the tremendous negative
impact and the consequences of this heartless, aggressive, anticoal
policy from the EPA and from this administration's regulatory policy.
Since 2009, the Commonwealth of Kentucky has lost more than 8,000
coal mining jobs throughout our State. For every one coal mining job,
three additional jobs are directly tied to every coal mining job. This
is a direct result of the administration's war on coal.
Sure, there are competitive pressures from natural gas, and we
celebrate the fracking boom and the result of discoveries in natural
gas, but I can tell you what the coal industry says. It is not cheap
natural gas that is the cause of these lost jobs; it is the fact that
the Federal Government has put its heavy hand of regulatory power on
the scales to make this industry noncompetitive.
Just to give you a sample of the problem, in the first quarter of
2015 alone, Kentucky's coal employment numbers dropped another 10\1/2\
percent.
What does that mean in total? Coal production in Kentucky has
decreased to its lowest level since 1963. In 2015, production levels
are currently half of what they were just two decades ago; yet demand
for energy in the United States has suddenly increased.
There are more than just statistics, Mr. Speaker, when it comes to
talking about the face of the war on coal. Many of my colleagues have
shared these stories about what this really means, what all of these
regulations really mean in the real world. It is not statistics on a
page; it is not about coal production percentages on decline.
What it is really about, it is about Sally, the young woman in Wolfe
County, Kentucky, that I met with tears in her eyes at the end of a
townhall meeting.
She came to me as her Congressman and she said: Do they know what
they are doing to our family? My husband lost his job because the coal
mining employer that he works for didn't get a permit, and so now, he
is out of work. Don't those people in Washington understand that I have
got kids? We are going back to school; it is August, and I can't afford
shoes for my kids. I had to go to Walmart and buy them flip-flops, just
so they wouldn't be embarrassed to go back to school.
Now, I want the regulators in Washington, D.C., to come back to
Kentucky, to eastern Kentucky, and meet Sally and look Sally in the eye
and ask her to describe to them what the impact of this war on coal is
for her.
What about Robert? Robert the coal miner from Wolfe County, Kentucky,
in my district, he gets up at 3 a.m. every morning to commute an hour
to go to work in the coal mines just to put food on the table.
Or what about James, who looks at me with an incredible expression
and says: Andy, don't they understand what they are doing? They are
putting people out of work. They are making life harder on the American
people. Surely, these are the people who say they are fighting for the
working man. I am the working man. Congressman, what are they thinking?
Then you talk about Chris, Chris who says: Congressman, I don't know
much about politics; I don't really care much about politics, but if
you can go save my job, I am for you. Can't the politicians in
Washington fight for people just to go to work and provide for their
families? These are paychecks that these people depend on.
Finally, it is Curtis, Curtis who said to me that his father crawled
on his
[[Page H5578]]
belly for decades to take care of his family, and because of his
father's hard work, he had opportunities.
This is more than statistics. This is about real people who have been
victimized by bureaucrats in Washington who are out of touch--if the
bureaucrats in Washington would at least just go to these places--West
Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky--and look these people in the
eye and ask them what they think about their policies.
Worst of all, it is all done in the name of the environment. We all
love the environment. These coal miners love the environment. They come
from a beautiful part of the country, in Appalachia.
It is not about not wanting to help the environment or environmental
stewardship, but what is so sad is that these regulations aren't going
to do a darn thing about global carbon emissions.
The Clean Power Plan rule that this administration has proposed would
reduce global carbon emissions by less than 1 percent--for what, $8
billion in additional annual cost to our economy and thousands of
American families without paychecks.
This is wrong. The Congress of the United States is right to stand up
for these families. The Congress of the United States is right to stand
up for jobs.
That is why I support all of the legislative work done by this House
by these good Members--the STREAM Act from my colleague and friend from
West Virginia; the coal residuals bill that the gentleman, the
chairman, has championed and done a great job in supporting, my
colleague, Ed Whitfield, the chairman of the Energy Subcommittee on the
Ratepayer Protection Act; the REINS Act, which we just voted for and
passed out of this House, which would stop all of these costly
regulations.
{time} 1915
Mr. Speaker, it is time for us to stand up for American jobs, for
American energy, and for American-produced coal power. I thank the
gentleman for his leadership.
Mr. McKINLEY. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman touched on something that I
don't know that our listeners or even the other Members of Congress
quite grasp, but the gentleman touched on it in one statement he made.
It is the claim that CO2 emissions of the world are the
target of our global warming issue.
I will just accept, for discussion purposes, that that is the basis
of their war on coal, this ideological fight that we are involved in. I
will use the United Nations' statistics--not the Republican caucus',
not the coal country's numbers, but the United Nations'.
They say: Congressman Barr, if you were to stop all coal-fired
capacity in every school, church, hospital, power station--if we were
to stop all burning of coal in America in total so that there became no
coal being consumed in America--you would reduce the CO2
emissions of the world by two-tenths of 1 percent.
Mr. BARR. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. McKINLEY. I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky.
Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I would also make this point that this is the
United States of America.
In the United States of America, we solve problems through
entrepreneurship, free enterprise, and innovation. We put a man on the
Moon because we are Americans. We believe in freedom, and we believe in
innovation.
If there is a problem with carbon emissions and climate change, then
we should solve the problem the American way, through fossil energy
research. What we should not do is supply a Soviet-style, command-and-
control solution from Washington, which will not solve the problem.
What we need to be doing is exporting American technology to China
and India and other countries that have inferior electricity-generating
capabilities.
Mr. McKINLEY. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to touch base again before
we go to our last speaker.
Again, these are all of the rules. This is the overwhelming number of
rules that we are trying to deal with in America in dealing with fossil
fuels, from ozone to new source performance standards. I could go on.
There is the regional haze and the greenhouse gas tailoring rule. We
have to deal with those. Let me show the impact as already predicted is
going to happen. It is that we are going to see higher utility bills.
If we want to see that, just keep doing it because that is exactly what
is going to happen.
This chart has been produced that shows, just in West Virginia 7
years ago--let's just say for discussion--you had a $100 bill for your
monthly electric. Now, because of all of the rules, we are at $160.
That is a 60 percent increase in the cost of utilities. Some might
argue it is because of the cost of coal. No. The cost of coal has
dropped.
The point here is that the power plants--the utilities--are having to
put excessive money into the production of electricity to meet some of
those rules that we talked about over there. It is coming out of our
pockets. Someone is paying for that. You and I are paying for that.
In addition, we are already 60 percent up. Look at Arizona. They are
suggesting that the increased cost in Arizona is going to go up 40
percent; in the State of Washington, 37 percent; in California, 24
percent. All we have to ask is: Is this what the consumers want?
Let me show you another chart here.
This talks about where coal is being used. Now, this administration
has been very effective in shutting it off. You have heard the horror
stories of what has happened in Kentucky. I have heard of some of it in
West Virginia. In Ohio, it is the same story--in Indiana, in Illinois.
The impact it is having on our industry is destructive. They are
destroying the industry. The industry is on its knees now.
But what about overseas?
The International Energy Agency has already indicated that they have
a voracious appetite for coal elsewhere outside of America. No one else
is following the administration's lead on this idea of this war on
coal.
They are still burning coal. They are burning coal every which way
they can. Whether it is in China or in India--wherever they are--they
are using coal. As a matter of fact, from the year 2000 to 2013, they
increased their appetite for coal by 70 percent; but in America, we
dropped. It is important to understand where this fight is and what we
have to do to fight for the individuals.
Mr. Speaker, as we start to wrap up our discussion tonight about coal
and its impact, about the Clean Power Plan and the effective
regulations, I yield to the gentleman from the Second District of West
Virginia (Mr. Mooney), one of our newest Congressmen.
Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman
McKinley for his leadership on this issue and in our great State of
West Virginia. I thank Congressman Barr for his great comments and for
his telling some personal stories about how this affects real Americans
from different States.
Mr. Speaker, our great country is blessed with abundant natural
resources. Unfortunately, President Obama has made a campaign
commitment to destroy coal as a domestic energy source, and he is
intent on fulfilling that promise.
Just 2 weeks ago, the Office of Surface Mining, under the Department
of the Interior, released its latest set of rules and regulations that
will cripple the coal industry not only in West Virginia, but across
the country. These new rules and regulations are over 2,500 pages in
length.
If you do not know exactly what that looks like, here it is, ladies
and gentlemen. It is six folders full of new regulations--2,500 pages.
This is what it looks like, okay? The Department of the Interior has
given us 60 days to go through this. It is a lot of work. At the very
least, a 120-day extension is needed beyond the current 60-day comment
period.
I have already joined Chairman Bishop of the Natural Resources
Committee, on which I serve, and 43 Members of Congress in sending a
letter to the Obama administration, requesting a 120-day extension of
the comment period for the recently announced job-killing stream buffer
zone regulation right here.
My hard-working staff and I of the Second District of West Virginia
have been going through this very hard over the last several days since
it came out. We have been trying to look at all of
[[Page H5579]]
the ridiculous regulations in this bill, and we have come across a
couple of things that, I think, are worth pointing out so far.
For instance, on page 1201 of the proposed regulation, it reads:
Ensure that electric power transmission lines and other
transmission facilities that are used for or are incidental
to surface mining activities on the permit area are designed
and constructed to minimize electrocution hazards to raptors
and other alien species with large wingspans.
The Office of Surface Mining is worried about protecting raptors and
other birds from electrocution, so they have created a special
regulation just to prevent that from happening. That is right. Here it
is--required. We found on page 1201, buried within thousands of pages
of regulations, that coal companies are to build special power lines to
prevent ``raptors from getting zapped.''
I wonder if the environmentalists have the same concerns for their
own projects. According to the Smithsonian, somewhere between 140,000
and 328,000 birds die each year from flying into wind turbines.
On page 1100 exactly, we have even more new rules here. It reads:
You may not conduct any surface mining activity that is
likely to jeopardize the continued existence of threatened or
endangered species listed by the Secretary or proposed for
listing by the Secretary or that is likely to result in the
destruction or adverse modification of designated critical
habitat in violation of the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
That is a long sentence with a lot of ``ors.'' This absurd regulation
would prohibit mining near animals that the Director of the Interior
has simply proposed for listing as endangered or as threatened.
It would be one thing to prevent mining operations around animals
that are actually endangered, but this regulation goes far, far beyond
protecting endangered species. This is a stunning regulatory power grab
that an environmental extremist Secretary will use to put miners out of
business.
Even more ridiculous is just the heart of this rulemaking, which is
to fundamentally change the definition of a ``stream'' to include
temporary streams. Temporary streams are, essentially, ditches that
fill up with water when it rains, and the water goes away quickly. They
are calling them ``streams'' now.
A recent study from the National Center for Mining estimates that
these rules will destroy as many as 80,000 coal jobs across the
country. My colleague Congressman Andy Barr put some names to those
stories of individuals who are losing their jobs. He just referred to
them in his remarks, and I appreciate that.
These are hard-working American taxpayers who are simply trying to
provide for their families; and these idealistic, extremist regulations
are putting them out of work. It is harming families not only in our
States of West Virginia and Kentucky, but across the country. These new
regulations would be catastrophic to the coal industry and to all of
the hard-working American families who depend on coal to keep their
energy costs low.
The economy of the Appalachian Region and West Virginia, in
particular, are uniquely threatened by these regulations because of our
mountainous topography and abundance of small streams.
Industry estimates say this administrative action could mean 45 to 79
percent of the coal reserves in the Appalachia would no longer be
usable. The damage from such a critical blow to the industry would
create a ripple of hardship in our State.
I think my colleague Congressman McKinley mentioned this already, but
over 90 percent of the energy consumed in West Virginia is produced by
coal power, and distress in the coal industry will raise home energy
prices and business energy costs for everybody. Low-income folks are
going to struggle with this.
Furthermore, approximately 60 percent of West Virginia State business
tax revenue is derived from coal revenues. A significant decrease in
these revenues would put a severe financial strain on the State budget,
and it could potentially hurt crucial services in our State, like
public schools, State-funded health clinics, and the funding of our law
enforcement agencies.
I want to continue to work with my colleagues on the Natural
Resources Committee, and I thank my colleague from West Virginia and my
colleague from Kentucky for cosponsoring my bill, H.R. 1644. It is also
known as the STREAM Act.
I want to first move it swiftly through committee before any real
damage can be done by this harmful new rule. It is time that the
administration wakes up and realizes that their regulations are hurting
hard-working American taxpayers for no good reason.
{time} 1930
Mr. McKINLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments on
that and for bringing up also the Clean Power Plan as we were wrapping
up with that.
Because I am intrigued--and maybe the rest of the Members should be
as well--with the idea that is being promoted by the senior Senator
from Kentucky, which is maybe we should not be so quick to jump on the
Clean Power Plan.
The President may very well be overturned on this constitutionally.
But if the States implement this voluntarily and impact our schools,
our communities, our environment, our health care, our hospitals, by
shutting down, we won't be able to recover from that.
So the Senator has come up with an intriguing concept, and that is
just say no. It kind of reminds me of Barbara Bush a few years ago.
As a result of that, we already have several States that are either
saying no or are deeply and seriously considering saying no.
States like Oklahoma, Indiana, Wisconsin, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama,
and Mississippi are not going to jump on this legislation just yet.
The rule, they are coming from the administration because they have
seen the strategy here, which is just to use a bullying tactic, push it
through, knowing full well 5 or 6 years from now it is going to be
overturned in the courts. But we will never get our jobs back.
Those individuals that you were talking about, Congressman Barr,
those individuals that came up to you, they are not going to have a
job.
They will have left Kentucky. They will have gone someplace else to
try to find something else. They are going to be uprooted from their
communities.
No, we have to fight. This is the fight now.
I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr).
Mr. BARR. I agree with you 100 percent.
I would just mention, too, it is not just about the coal mining jobs
and the coal miners who will lose their jobs.
My district is mainly not a mining district. My district mainly is
known for thoroughbred horses and bourbon distilleries and cattle, in
addition to the University of Kentucky and the City of Lexington, but
we do border the coal industry.
What I do know about those senior citizens on fixed incomes or low-
income folks who live in those noncoal-producing counties in my
district is that their electricity bills are going to double or triple
if this Clean Power Plan goes into effect.
I have talked to the utilities. Over 90 percent of the electricity in
Kentucky comes from coal. Coal keeps the lights on. Coal provides
affordable energy.
The estimates from the utilities is that, in a single year, folks who
live below the poverty line are going to see their electricity bills
increase by two times, maybe three times, and that is simply something
that they can't afford.
So this is an assault on low-income Americans, not just coal-mining
families, but, also, fixed-income seniors and other low-income
Americans.
Mr. McKINLEY. I do appreciate the gentleman's additional comments.
So as we leave here tonight, let's make sure that we go back over
what we have talked about.
We have talked about the impact on coal. We have talked about the
individuals, as you just referred to on their electric bills. We see
the drama that is going to play out over this.
We have seen the numbers of regulations that are coming forth with
this, with these bullying tactics, this hostility toward coal. We have
seen this last result, the Clean Power Plan. These have to stop.
America needs to wake up.
This is something that is happening, but we have the ability here to
reach
[[Page H5580]]
out and try to communicate to more people across West Virginia and the
Nation, in Kentucky and Illinois, to Montana, to California, to
demonstrate to them that you are already using coal. You are getting
the advantages of coal.
Work with us to get the clean coal technology so that we can cut down
our emissions. The idea of shutting off coal is short-sighted, and the
rest of the world isn't following.
Someone said about leadership: You know, if no one is following you,
then all you are doing is a man taking a walk.
So we have to find people that can lead. We have groups that are
willing to take this on and fight for coal, fight for the jobs and the
people that are affected by this.
So I thank you all for coming out here tonight.
I yield back the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
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