Democrats’ War On Coal is a War on Jobs

Democrats’ War On Coal is a War on American Jobs

Burdensome Obama Regulations Continue Draining the Economy, With Coal Closures and Layoffs 

• As Democrats continue pushing for government regulations “aggressively aimed at constraining the use of coal,” more and more workers now find themselves facing layoffs and plant closures.
• This war on coal being waged by Democrats snubs American workers in favor of “green energy” programs that send taxpayer money and American jobs to China.
• With 23 million Americans who are out of work, have given up looking for work or are underemployed, it’s clear workers don’t need more Democrat failures that send their tax dollars and jobs to China.

As Democrats continue pushing for government regulations “aggressively aimed at constraining the use of coal,” more and more workers now find themselves facing layoffs and plant closures.

COAL INDUSTRY DIRECTLY PROVIDES 550,000 AMERICAN JOBS: (“The Economic Contributions of U.S. Mining,” PriceWaterhouseCoopers for National Mining Association, October 2010)

EACH COAL MINING JOB CREATES 3.5 JOBS ELSEWHERE IN THE ECONOMY: (“Fast Facts about Coal,” National Mining Association, Accessed 9/20/2012)

YET COAL COMPANIES ARE FINDING IT HARDER TO DO BUSINESS UNDER BURDENSOME OBAMA ADMINSTRATON REGUALTIONS

ALPHA COAL: COAL PRODUCERS FACING “REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT AGRESSIVELY AIMED AT CONSTRAINING THE USE OF COAL”: “Crutchfield [Alpha Coals’ CEO] called it a ‘difficult day,’ but said the shutdowns and layoffs are a necessary part of ensuring Alpha survives in what has become a difficult U.S. market, where coal companies face a dual challenge: Power plants are shiting to cheap, abundant natural gas, while companies like his face ‘a regulatory environment that’s aggressively aimed at contraining the use of coal.’” (Vicki Smith, “Alpha Closing 8 Mines, Cutting 1,200 Jobs in All,” The Associated Press, 9/18/2012)

PATRIOT COAL: BUSINESS IMPACTED BY “CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS AFFECTING COST OF PRODUCING COAL”: “Patriot’s business outlook has been impacted by a number of challenges that are effecting the coal industry, including reduction in U.S. thermal coal demand due to competition tfrom low prices natural gas, challenging environmental regulations affecting the cost of producing and using coal, and weaker international and domestic economies.” (Press Release, “Patriot Coal Files for Chapter 11 Reorganization to Improve the Company’s Long-Term Prospects,” Patriot Coal, 7/9/12)

UNITED MINE WORKERS: EPA “SHOT US IN WASHINGTON”: “The Navy SEALs shot Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan and Lisa Jackson [Administrator of the EPA] shot us in Washington,’ Cecil Roberts, president of the powerful union, said during an interview Tuesday on the West Virginia radio show MetroNews Talkline.” (Andrew Restuccia, “Mine Union Boss: Coal Industry Could Suffer Same Fate As Bin Laden,” The Hill, 4/4/12)

DEMOCRATS WAR ON COAL HAS KILLED AMERICAN JOBS NATIONWIDE

UNDER OBAMA REGULATIONS, 111 COAL POWER PLANTS HAVE CLOSED IN THE PAST TWO YEARS: “But in the past two years, an increasing number of coal-powered electricity plants across the country have announced closures. Estimates vary, but banking and industry analysis firm Credit Suisse put expected and known closures for 2009-2012 at 111 plants, that’s one-fifth of the nation’s nearly 500 coal plants.”

(Lisa Desjardins, “The War Over Coal Is Personal,” CNN, 7/17/12)

NEW COAL REGULATONS ARE EXPECTED TO CUT 1.4 MILLION JOBS: “Coal plants will be forced to install new scrubber equipment that provides marginal improvement in air quality at tremendous expense…Electric bills will jump 12 percent by 2016 with areas such as Kentucky and Tennessee seeing a 24 percent increase. Employment will drop by a net 1.4 million jobs.” (“Obama’s Coal Tax,” Washington Times, 9/20/12)

OHIO: OHIOAMERICAN ENERGY CEASES COAL MINING OPERATIONS AND LAYS OFF 239, CITING DEMOCRATS’ REGULATIONS: “OhioAmerican Energy…today announced the closure of its coal mining operations near Brilliantr, Jefferson County, Ohio. Regulatory Actions by President Barack Obama and his appointees and followers were cited as the entire reason…OhioAmerican employed 239 local people in high-paying, well-benefitted jobs.” (Press Release, “OhioAmerican Energy, Inc. Coal Mining Operation Closed in Eastern Ohio,” Murray Energy, 7/31/12)

OHIO: OHIO VALLEY COAL COMPANY ELIMINATES 29 JOBS CITING “REGUALTORY EXCESS OF OBAMA ADMINSTRATON”: “The Ohio Valley Coal Company announced Friday it has been forced to reduce its workforce at the Powhatan No. 6 Mine in Belmont County, Ohio. According to a news release 29 hourly jobs will be cut. The company cites the regulatory excess of the Obama administration as a direct cause to the layoffs.” (Colin Lawler, “Ohio Valley Coal Co. Announces Layoffs, “ WTRF, 7/21/12)

OHIO: FIRSTENERGY TO LAYOFF 73 WORKERS BECAUSE OF FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS PUT IN PLACE: “Electric utility FirstEnergy Corp., Toledo Edison’s parent firm, said this week it will begin its planned downsizing of the Bay Shore plant in Oregon on Sept. 1 by permanently laying off workers. The number of workers to be laid off eventually will total 73…FirstEnergy said in January it would retire three coal-fired generators at Bay Shore because of federal environmental standards put in place late last year.” (“Layoffs to Begin Sept. 1 At Bay Shore Plant, Toledo Blade, 7/20/12)

PENNSYLVANIA: PBS COALS AND AFFILIATES LAID OFF 225 WORKERS, BLAME OBAMA REGULATIONS: “PBS Coals Inc. and its affiliate company, RoxCoal Inc., laid off about 225 workers as part of an immediate idling of some deep and surface mines in Somerset County…In a statement, PBS President and CEO D. Lynn Shanks said foreign … the escalating costs and uncertainty generated by recently advanced EPA regulations and interpretations have created a challenging business climate for the entire coal industry” (Eric Schwartzel, “Two Coal Companies Downsize,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/20/12)

WEST VIRGINIA: ARCH COAL TO CLOSE PLANTS, CUT 19% OF ITS EMPLOYEES: “The Eastern Complex near Cowen in Webster County, W.Va. is also falling to cuts. Arch Coal says 19 percent of their West Virginia jobs will be lost in this cut.” (“Arch Coal Cutting 750 Mine Jobs In Appalachia,” WSAZ News, 7/22/12)

WEST VIRGINIA: CONSOL ENERGY TO LAY OFF 318 MINERS, CITING INCREASED REGULATIONS: “At the same time Consol Energy is ramping up its natural gas drilling efforts, company officials are laying off 318 West Virginia coal miners, citing pressure from federal environmental regulators.” (Casey Junkins, “Coal Jobs Cut; Consol, Others Scaling Back,” The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register, 7/8/12)

KENTUCKY: 52 LAID OFF AT ENTERPRISE MINING, 100 AT XIENERGY, 160 AT SAPPHIRE COAL: “Coal employment had held steady or even grown in some Eastern Kentucky counties the past few years, but a wave of layoff announcements started early this year and just kept coming: Fifty-two people at Enterprise Mining’s surface operation in Knott County on Feb. 3. Two weeks later, 109 at Xinergy Corp.’s Straight Creek mine in Bell County. In April, 160 at Sapphire Coal in Letcher County.” (Bill Estep, “Coal Industry Sheds Jobs, Leaving Eastern Kentucky Economy In Tatters,”  Lexington Herald-Leader, 7/29/12)

This war on coal being waged by Democrats snubs American workers in favor of “green energy” programs that send taxpayer money and American jobs to China.

OBAMA OFFICIALS BROKE STIMULUS LAW PROVISIONS AND PURCHASED CHINESE SOLAR PANELS: “Government officials blame unfair competition from China for the collapse of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, but such concerns didn’t stop the federal government from breaking stimulus program rules to use Chinese solar panels atop a federal building housing the offices of a senator, congressman and several agencies.” (Jim McElhatton, “Feds Ignore Rules And Use Stimulus Cash To Buy Chinese Solar Panels,” The Washington Times, 9/17/12)

$200,000 TAXPAYER FUNDED STIMULUS DOLLARS WENT TO CHINA FOR THE PROJECT: “The inspector general’s memo said the overall roof work was performed under a $1.8 million task order awarded to J.R. Conkey & Associates, though Mr. Conkey said a portion of the project involving stimulus funding for the panels at issue involved about $200,000.” (Jim McElhatton, “Feds Ignore Rules And Use Stimulus Cash To Buy Chinese Solar Panels,” The Washington Times, 9/17/12)

FACTCHECK.ORG: CHINESE COMPANIES GET $2.6 BILLION TAXPAYER DOLLARS FROM STIMULUS: “As we know from Choma’s exhaustive research, it is true that foreign-owned companies have received $2.4 billion in grants to build wind farms in the U.S. Choma gives this breakdown: … China, $2.6 million. … Choma wrote: ‘…we can’t say for sure how much of this stimulus money went to create jobs in China. Some money definitely did…” (Eugene Kiely, Lara Seligman, Lauren Hitt and Melissa Siegel, “Stimulus Jobs in China?,”FactCheck.org, 10/29/2010)

FACTCHECK.ORG: “CORRECT TO SAY THAT THE STIMULUS LAW CREATED JOBS FOR CHINESE WORKERS”: (Eugene Kiely, Lara Seligman, Lauren Hitt and Melissa Siegel, “Stimulus Jobs in China?,”FactCheck.org, 10/29/2010)

With 23 million Americans who are out of work, have given up looking for work or are underemployed, it’s clear workers don’t need more Democrat failures that send their tax dollars and jobs to China.

PRICE TAG FOR FAILED STIMULUS: $833 BILLION: (Congressional Budget Office, 8/23/2012)

“CBO: STIMULUS HELPED ALMOST DOUBLE U.S. DEBT”: (Conn Carroll, “CBO: Stimulus Helped Almost Double U.S. Debt,” The Washington Examiner, 6/22/2011)

US OWES $1.15 TRILLION TO CHINA: (“Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, 9/18/2012)

$5.38 TRILLION INCREASE IN NATIONAL DEBT SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE: (“The Daily History of the Debt Results,” Bureau of the Public Debt, Accessed 9/18/2012)

NATIONAL DEBT CURRENTLY STANDS AT $16.01 TRILLION; SIZE OF NATION’S ECONOMY AT $15.61 TRILLION: (“The Daily History of the Debt Results,” Bureau of the Public Debt, Accessed 9/18/2012; Bureau of Economic Analysis, Accessed 8/30/2012) 

YET FAMILIES STILL STRUGGLE WITH, 23 MILLION UNEMPLOYED, UNDEREMPLOYED AND DISCOURAGED WORKERS: (“The Employment Situation—August 2012,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, 9/7/2012)

DEMOCRAT ECONOMY: UNEMPLOYMENT ABOVE 8% FOR 43 STRAIGHT MONTHS, MORE THAN 11 PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS COMBINED:  (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 9/7/2012)

368,000 AMERICANS GAVE UP LOOKING FOR WORK IN THE OBAMA ECONOMY:  (Jeff Cox, “New Jobs at 96,000, Missing Expectations; Rate Hits 8.1%,” CNBC, 9/7/2012)