June 25, 2013

Manchin Slams Obama's War On Coal and Economy

Senator Manchin vows to fight destructive policies that harm America's economy

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) today slammed President Obama’s proposal to address climate change, which imposes unreasonable restrictions that will have disastrous consequences for not only the coal industry, but also American jobs and the economy.

“The regulations the President wants to force on coal are not feasible. And if it’s not feasible, it’s not reasonable,” Senator Manchin said. “It’s clear now that the President has declared a war on coal. It’s simply unacceptable that one of the key elements of his climate change proposal places regulations on coal that are completely impossible to meet with existing technology.

“The fact is clear: our own Energy Department reports that our country will get 37 percent of our energy from coal until 2040. Removing coal from our energy mix will have disastrous consequences for our recovering economy. These policies punish American businesses by putting them at a competitive disadvantage with our global competitors. And those competitors burn seven-eighths of the world’s coal, and they’re not going to stop using coal any time soon.

“It is only common sense to use all our domestic resources, and that includes our coal. Let’s make sure that government works as our partner, not our adversary, to create a secure and affordable energy future, and let’s invest in technology which will have the ability to burn coal with almost zero emissions.”  

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