Desperate In Coal Country

Under Pressure, Biden Panders On Coal

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IN COAL COUNTRY, BIDEN SAID AMERICA “DESPERATELY” NEEDS COAL

Last Night, Biden Said “We Desperately Need Coal.” BIDEN: “It’s all of the above for us. We desperately need coal. We need it to get cleaner and cleaner. We desperately all the sources of energy.” ( WTOV9, 5/17/12)

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This Followed A Day Of Protests And Ducking Reporters’ Questions On Coal In Martins Ferry, Ohio

When A Reporter Asked Biden About The Administration’s Coal Policies On The Rope Line, “Obama Staffers Ordered Secret Service To Move Reporters Back.” “On Thursday, reporters tried to approach a rope line where Biden was greeting a handful of supporters, but after one reporter asked his question about coal – a hot-button topic in this corner of the state, Obama staffers ordered Secret Service to move reporters back.” (Zeke Miller, “The White House Goes To War With The Joe Biden It Has,” BuzzFeed, 5/17/12)

Several Hundred Protesters “Showed Up In Full Force” With Many “Upset With The Current Administration’s Policy On Coal.” “While the crowd of nearly 450 people turned out in support of Vice President Biden, close to 200 protesters showed up in full force, as well. They were dressed in coal miner’s hats, jail uniforms and t-shirts, holding signs and chanting. Protesters filled the street less than a block from where Vice President Biden gave his speech Thursday in Martins Ferry. Many are upset with the current administration’s policy on coal.” (Laurie Conway, “Protesters React to Vice President’s Visit,” WTRF Wheeling WV, 5/17/12)

BUT SINCE 2008, THE OBAMA-BIDEN TICKET HAS ATTACKED COAL

Asked About The Obama-Biden Coal Policies On A Rope Line In Ohio In 2008, Biden Declared “No Coal Plants Here In America.” QUESTIONER: “Wind and solar are flourishing here in Ohio, so why are you supporting clean coal?” BIDEN: “We’re not supporting clean coal. Guess what, China is building two every week. Two dirty coal plants. And it’s polluting the United States, it’s causing people to die.” QUESTION: “So will you support wind and solar technologies?” BIDEN: “Absolutely. Before anyone did. The first guy to introduce a global warming bill was me, 22 years ago. The first guy to support solar energy was me, 26 years ago, it came out of Delaware. But guess what? China’s going to burn 300 years of bad coal unless we figure out how to clean their coal up because it’s going to ruin your lungs and there’s nothing we can do about it. No coal plants here in America. Build them, if they are going to build them over there, make them clean, because they’re killing you.” (Sen. Joe Biden, Remarks At Campaign Event, Maumee, OH, 9/17/08)

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In 2007, Biden Ranked Coal Ahead Of High-Fructose Corn Syrup And A Terrorist Attack As More Likely To Contribute To The Death Of An Average American. HBO’S BILL MAHER: “Senator Biden, forgetting about the upcoming Iowa caucus for just a moment, which would you honestly say is more likely to contribute to the death of your average American: a terrorist strike or high-fructose corn syrup and air that has too much coal in it?” BIDEN: “Air that has too much coal in it, corn syrup next, then a terrorist attack. But that is not in any way to diminish the fact that a terrorist attack is real. It is not an existential threat to bringing down the country, but it does have the capacity, still, to kill thousands of people. But hundreds of thousands of people die and their lives are shortened because of coal plants, coal-fired plants and because of corn syrup.” (Sen. Joe Biden, Slate, Yahoo, The Huffington Post Presidential Forum, 9/13/07)

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In 2007, Then-Presidential Candidate Joe Biden Said “I Don’t Think There’s Much Of A Role For Clean Coal In Energy Independence,” And “Clean-Coal Is Not The Route To Go In The United States.” BIDEN: “I don’t think there’s much of a role for clean coal in energy independence, but I do think there’s a significant role for clean coal in the bigger picture of climate change. Clean-coal technology is not the route to go in the United States, because we have other, cleaner alternatives.” (Amanda Little, “An Interview With Joe Biden About Energy And The Environment,” Grist.org, 8/30/07)

While Campaigning For President In 2008, Barack Obama Said That His Cap-And-Trade Program Would Bankrupt Coal-Powered Plants. OBAMA: “So, if somebody wants to build a coal 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’s being emitted.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Interview With The San Francisco Chronicle‘s Editorial Board, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/17/08)

The Obama Administration’s Anti-Coal Policies Have Drawn Fire From Coal Country And Democrats

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) Condemned The Obama Administration’s “Attempts To Destroy Our Coal Industry And Way Of Life In West Virginia.” “Announcing the suit against the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, Mr. Manchin, a Democrat, condemned what he called the Obama administration’s ‘attempts to destroy our coal industry and way of life in West Virginia.'” (Erik Eckholm, “West Virginia Sues U.S. Over Mining Restrictions,” The New York Times, 10/7/10)

• Manchin: “This Is What Happens When This Country Doesn’t Have A True All-Of The-Above Energy Approach. Instead Of Trying To Completely Eliminate Coal In The Long-Term, The EPA Should Be Trying To Work With Industry.”(“Sen. Manchin: EPA Fully Engaged In A War On Coal,” The Herald-Dispatch, 3/27/12)

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D-WV): “This Latest Announcement Is Yet Another Example Of The EPA’s Inappropriate Use Of Its Regulatory Authority To Set Policy For Our Country… [W]e Should Be Working To Make Our Country More Energy Independent And Create Jobs, Not Harm Them.” (“Sen. Manchin: EPA Fully Engaged In A War On Coal,” The Herald-Dispatch, 3/27/12)

• Tomblin: “I Will Not Stand For It.” (“W.Va Delegation Blasts EPA Power Plants Proposal,” The Associated Press, 3/28/12)

The Wall Street Journal: “For Three Years The Environmental Protection Agency Has Imposed A De Facto Ban On New Coal-Fired Power While Doing Everything It Can To Harm Existing Coal Plants.” (Editorial, “Killing Coal,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/5/12)

• The Wall Street Journal: “The Agency Is Conceding That Coal Development Has Been Shut Down As A Result Of Its Many New Regulations, Such As The Recent Mercury Rule And The Illegal Permitting Delays That A Federal Appeals Court Slapped Down Last Week.” (Editorial, “Killing Coal,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/5/12)

“The White House Is Hostile To Fossil Fuels, Yet It Has Been Unable To Get Congress Or The Public To Act. So It Has Unleashed The EPA To Crack Down On Those Industries.” (Kimberly Strassel, “The ‘Crucify Them’ Presidency,” The Wall Street Journal,5/4/12)

The Detroit News: “The Environmental Protection Agency’s Crusade Against Coal-Fired Power Plants Is On A Fast Track To Raise Electricity Bills In Michigan By As Much As 20 Percent And Restrict The State’s Economic Growth.” (Editorial, “Stop EPA From Killing Coal,” The Detroit News, 6/23/11)

Charleston Daily Mail: “President Obama’s Administration Wasted No Time When It Took Office In Pursuing Its Agenda To Cripple The Coal Industry In Appalachian States.” (Editorial, “One Victory Scored, but the War Goes On,” Charleston Daily Mail,10/10/11)

Parkersburg News And Sentinel: “If the EPA succeeds, tens of millions of Americans will pay higher electric bills – some perhaps thousands of dollars more. But the coal industry will be devastated, and with it, the economies of West Virginia and other coal states will be wrecked.” (Editorial, “War On Coal,”Parkersburg News And Sentinel, 9/20/11)

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Commissioner Philip Moeller: “In Contrast To The Gradual Integration Of Wind And Solar, And Our Careful Work Studying That Topic, Upcoming EPA Rules Are Expected To Quickly Remove, Or ‘Dis-Integrate,’ Significant Amounts Of Coal Power From The Power Grid.” (Abby W. Schachter, “Obama’s Keystone Headache,” The New York Post’s “Capitol Punishment”, 11/28/11)

The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register: “Obama’s Goal, In Which Top EPA Officials And Liberals In Congress Cooperate Enthusiastically, Is To Wreck The Coal Industry.” “Obama’s goal, in which top EPA officials and liberals in Congress cooperate enthusiastically, is to wreck the coal industry. As we have pointed out, eliminating relatively low-priced electricity generated from coal will put many industries in this region at a competitive disadvantage against those elsewhere. That may well be part of the liberals’ strategy.” (Editorial, “End EPA War Against Coal,” The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register , 1/1/12)

Obama’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rules Will Effectively End Coal As We Know It

The Obama Administration Proposed The Nation’s First Ever Restrictions On Greenhouse Gasses From Power Plants, Limiting New Fossil-Fuel-Burning Plants To No More Than 1,000 Pounds Of Carbon Dioxide Per Megawatt Generated. “The Obama administration on Tuesday proposed the nation’s first-ever restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from US power plants. If approved, the restrictions are expected to sharply curb construction of new coal-fired power plants nationwide. The proposed restrictions, unveiled by officials at the Environmental Protection Agency, would apply only to new fossil-fuel-burning power plants – limiting them to no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt generated.” (Mark Clayton, “EPA Issues New Rule On Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Christian Science Monitor , 3/27/12)

Obama’s New Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rule Is “A Regulation That Promises To Shift The Future Of U.S. Power Generation.” “The Obama administration is moving ahead with its greenhouse gas rule for new power plants, a regulation that promises to shift the future of U.S. power generation. EPA will announce the rule Tuesday, a senior administration official confirmed to POLITICO. The proposed regulation in essence means that new coal-fired power plants will have to capture their carbon dioxide emissions – either for storage or, in many cases, to send the CO2 to oil and gas drilling operations where it can be used to help extract fossil fuels.” (Erica Martinson, “EPA Hits Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Power Plants,” Politico, 3/26/12)

The New Rule Means That Coal-Fired Plants “As They Exist Now Will Not Be Built In The Future.” “But beyond that, the rule means that coal-fired power plants as they exist now will not be built in the future. The standard will generally require that new power plants emit CO2 at a rate no greater than that of a natural-gas-fired power plant. Such plants emit about 60 percent less greenhouse gases than coal plants.” (Erica Martinson, “EPA Hits Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Power Plants,” Politico, 3/26/12)

Obama’s Greenhouse Rule Will “Effectively Prohibit New Coal-Fired Power Plants.”“President Barack Obama’s proposed emission rules for power plants effectively prohibit new coal- fired power plants, buttressing the nation’s shift away from a power source that fueled the Industrial Revolution to cheap natural gas. Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from U.S. power plants yesterday, setting a standard natural-gas facilities can meet. A new coal plant, however, would need carbon-capture technology, which industry lobbyists say isn’t available at competitive rates.” (Mark Drajem, “Obama Power-Plant Rule Signals Demise Of ‘Old King Coal,'” Bloomberg, 3/28/12)

Obama’s Greenhouse Gas Proposal “Probably Will Mean That No New Coal-Fired U.S. Plants Will Be Built After This Year.” “The Obama administration’s proposal last week to put the first limits on greenhouse gases from new power plants probably will mean that no new coal-fired U.S. plants will be built after this year, but that won’t slash coal use anytime soon.” (Renee Schoof, “EPA Climate Proposal could Limit Coal’s Future, At Least In US,” McClatchy, 4/1/12)