“No Coal Plants Here In America”

As Biden Completes His Two-Day Swing In Eastern Ohio, Ohioans Are Feeling The True Pain Of Obama Economics

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN WILL COMPLETE A TWO DAY SWING IN OHIO ON THURSDAY PUSHING “OBAMA ECONOMICS”

Biden Began A Two-Day Campaign Swing Through Eastern Ohio On Wednesday To Push A Populist Economic Message Dubbed “Obama Economics.” “Vice President Joe Biden kicks off a two-day campaign swing through eastern Ohio today, pushing a populist economic message – dubbed ‘Obama economics.'” (Devin Dwyer, “Biden Pushes ‘Obama Economics’ In Ohio Swing,” ABC News, 5/16/12)

THE OBAMA/BIDEN STANCE ON COAL WILL HURT THE OHIO ECONOMY

The Obama-Biden Ticket Does Not Support Coal In America

At A Campaign Event In Maumee, Ohio In 2008, Biden Proclaimed That The Obama-Biden Ticket Does Not Support Clean Coal Or Any Coal Plants 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)

• Click Here To View

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)

• Click Here To View

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)

Obama-Biden Are Against Coal

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)

OBAMA’S ANTI-COAL POLICIES WILL CLOSE SEVERAL COAL PLANTS IN SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES

“Ohio, With 90 Percent Of Its Power From Coal Combustion, Is On The Hot Seat.”(Steve Bennish, “Greenhouse Gas Regulations Target Ohio Coal Power,” Dayton Daily News, 1/18/11)

GenOn To Close Coal Plants In Niles, OH

Between 2012 And 2015, GenOn Will Close Coal Plants In Niles, OH And New Castle, PA. “The plants are owned by GenOn Energy Inc., a nationwide energy generator, which announced Wednesday that it plans to close plants across the two states. The company said forecasted returns on investments were insufficient to comply with current environmental regulations, and the shutdowns would represent a loss of 3,140 megawatts in generating capacity. Megawatt is the standard term of measurement for bulk electricity. Ohio plants affected include those in Niles and Avon Lake, and plants retiring in Pennsylvania are in New Castle, Portland, Shawville, Titus and Elrama. The closures will occur between 2012 and 2015.” (Chelsea Miller, “7 Coal-Powered Plants To Close In Ohio And Pa.,” Youngstown Vindicator, 3/1/12)

FirstEnergy To Close Ohio Coal Plants, Threatening Over 500 Jobs

FirstEnergy To Close Eastlake, Ashtabula, And Cleveland Power Plants Due To Regulations Imposed By The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Threatening Over 500 Jobs. “The Akron-based utility which owns Toledo Edison said it was shutting the facility because of air emission standards being imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In all, FirstEnergy said it would also shut plants in Eastlake, Ashtabula, and Cleveland in Ohio, as well as in Adrian, Pa., and Williamsport, Md. The plants collectively produce 2,689 megawatts of electricity and employ 529 workers.” (“FirstEnergy To Shutter Bay Shore Coal-Fired Plant,” The Toledo Blade, 1/26/12)

Cleveland Plain Dealer : “These Plant Closures Will Be A Punch In The Gut For Communities Already Battling Sour Unemployment Numbers.” “These plant closures will be a punch in the gut for communities already battling sour unemployment numbers. Three of the plants are in Cleveland, Eastlake and Ashtabula, which stand to lose millions in property taxes as well as many jobs.” (Editorial, “Coal Plants’ Loss Will Hurt Ohio,” The Plain Dealer, 1/29/12)

Eastlake Plant Closure Will Harm Small Community

FirstEnergy To Close Its Eastlake Plant. “The town of 20,000, just outside of Cleveland on the shore of Lake Erie, is home to one of the six plants slated for closure.” (Nate Berg, “What Happens To A Small Town When Its Coal Plant Shuts Down?” The Atlantic, 2/1/12)

Upon The Announcement, “The City Of Eastlake, Ohio, Couldn’t Help But Panic A Little.” “When the FirstEnergy Corporation announced last week that, due to new mercury and air toxin standards, the company would be closing six of its coal energy plants, the city of Eastlake, Ohio, couldn’t help but panic a little. The town of 20,000, just outside of Cleveland on the shore of Lake Erie, is home to one of the six plants slated for closure. The plant is one of the largest employers in town, and when it shuts down operations in September, it will also stop generating tax revenue for the city.” (Nate Berg, “What Happens To A Small Town When Its Coal Plant Shuts Down?” The Atlantic, 2/1/12)

• Democrat Mayor Ted Andrzejewski: “It’s A Huge Hit.” (Nate Berg, “What Happens To A Small Town When Its Coal Plant Shuts Down?” The Atlantic , 2/1/12)
• Andrzejewski: “We Only Have Two Choices: Get Additional Tax Revenue, Probably Through Tax Levies, Or Layoffs.” (Nate Berg, “What Happens To A Small Town When Its Coal Plant Shuts Down?” The Atlantic , 2/1/12)

The Eastlake Plant’s Closing Will Cost 100 Jobs And Five Percent Of The City’s Revenues. “With the elimination of the plant and its roughly 100 employees, the city will be losing about $400,000 in local income tax revenue, and another $190,000 in real estate tax revenue. This nearly $600,000 shortfall is the equivalent of 5 percent of the city’s annual budget. Andrzejewski says the city’s already in a bind because of the downturn in the economy, and more cuts to the budget will only make existing problems worse.” (Nate Berg, “What Happens To A Small Town When Its Coal Plant Shuts Down?” The Atlantic, 2/1/12)