"Annual Coal Conference
On Monday, May 18, I joined Congressman Roe and others at the Virginia Coal and Energy Alliance's annual conference at which, among other things, the Obama Administration’s so-called "Clean Power Plan" was discussed. Regular readers of this column are familiar with my strong opposition to this plan, as it threatens our Constitution, jobs, and affordable, reliable energy.
"When government picks winners and losers, everybody loses," Congressman Roe stated at the conference. "I’ve driven up through Eastern Kentucky (coalfields) and what they have created is a wasteland ... When you take the business of coal away, you take away the car dealership, the donations to the Little League, how you pay for your schools ... The young people leave and go somewhere else and never come back."
To reiterate my remarks at the conference, with the Administration’s proposed "Clean Power Plan" here in the United States, other parts of the world look very inviting for those seeking to build new facilities and create jobs. Sadly, what we have at this Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a small group of ideologues who seemingly do not care about jobs, a reliable all-of-the-above energy portfolio, or the Constitution of the United States. They are embedded in the EPA's bureaucracy, and they seem to hire those who agree with them. Further, I would submit to you that they are working to do away with carbon-based fuels, which is not practical in a world economy.
Dominion Resources Public Policy Manager William Murray, who has served then-Governors Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA), said, "We cannot have an all-natural-gas future or an all-anything future. We've got to have coal as the backbone of electric power generation."
I agree.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives."
[Editorial comment: In Virginia's Ninth District, Scott County made a successful transition to a post-coal economy long ago. Courage, lurkers in Lee and Wise County and elsewhere...it can be done, given time.]
No comments:
Post a Comment