Middle Class Job Destruction is the Price of Dems’ War on Coal

September 25, 2012

Middle Class Job Destruction is the Price of Dems’ War on Coal

Coal Plant Closings Are Still Climbing as Democrats’ War on Energy Puts Coal Producers Out of Business and Destroys Middle Class Jobs

A new report projects that job-destroying EPA regulations will result in more than 200 coal plant closings over the next three to five years.
This is just the latest example of the harmful economic effects of the Democrats’ job-destroying EPA regulations, which have already shuttered more than 100 coal plants.
But to Democrats, the destruction of middle class jobs is an acceptable cost in their war on energy.

A new report projects that job-destroying EPA regulations will result in more than 200 coal plant closings over the next three to five years:

“REPORT: MORE THAN 200 COAL-FIRED GENERATORS SLATED FOR SHUTDOWN”: (Matthew Bastasch, “Report: More than 200 Coal-Fired Generators Slated for Shutdown,” The Daily Caller, 9/22/2012)

SHUTDOWNS LINKED TO NEW AND PENDING EPA REGULATIONS: “Within the next three to five years, more than 200 coal-fired electric generating units will be shut down across 25 states due to EPA regulations and factors including cheap natural gas, according to a new report by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE).” (Matthew Bastasch, “Report: More than 200 Coal-Fired Generators Slated for Shutdown,” The Daily Caller, 9/22/2012)

MOST-AFFECTED STATES: OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA, WEST VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA: “The most affected states include Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina, which will see a combined 103 coal-fired generators shut down.” (Matthew Bastasch, “Report: More than 200 Coal-Fired Generators Slated for Shutdown,” The Daily Caller, 9/22/2012)

TOTAL COAL SHUTDOWNS AMOUNT TO 11% OF U.S. COAL GENERATING CAPACITY: “However, ACCCE notes that EPA policies may have played a role more than 4,800 megawatts of announced closures not included on in their report which would bring total shutdowns to 241 coal generator in 30 states — more than 36,000 MW of electric generation or 11 percent of the U.S. coal fleet.” (Matthew Bastasch, “Report: More than 200 Coal-Fired Generators Slated for Shutdown,” The Daily Caller, 9/22/2012)

This is just the latest example of the harmful economic effects of the Democrats’ job-destroying EPA regulations, which have already shuttered more than 100 coal plants:

UNDER OBAMA REGULATIONS, 111 U.S. COAL POWER PLANTS HAVE ALREADY CLOSED (20% OF ALL U.S. COAL PLANTS): “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)

AP: ALPHA NATURAL RESOURCES CUTTING 1,200 COAL JOBS, SHUTTERING 8 MINES: “Coal producer Alpha Natural Resources said Tuesday it’s cutting production by 16 million tons and eliminating 1,200 jobs companywide, including 400 with the immediate closing of eight mines in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.” (Vicki Smith, “Alpha Closing 8 Mines, Cutting 1,200 Jobs in All,” Associated Press, 9/18/2012)

ALPHA SINGLED OUT HOSTILE REGULATIONS AS A CAUSE FOR JOB LOSSES: “Earlier this week, coal company Alpha Natural Resources announced it would be laying off 1,200 workers and closing eight coal mines to face two new challenges: cheap natural gas and “a regulatory environment that’s aggressively aimed at constraining the use of coal.” (Matthew Bastasch, “Report: More than 200 Coal-Fired Generators Slated for Shutdown,” The Daily Caller, 9/22/2012)

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)

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)

But to Democrats, the destruction of middle class jobs is an acceptable cost in their war on energy:

WSJ: DEMOCRATS’ WAR ON COAL IS A “MIDDLE-CLASS JOB KILLER”: “Tell that to the miners and others employed in the coal industry, a middle-class job if there ever was one, and the target of relentless regulatory assault over the last four years.” (Editorial, “Middle-Class Job Killer,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/23/2012)

DEMOCRAT SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): COAL PLANT LOSSES DUE TO COMPANIES “HAVING TO FIGHT THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT”: “The government’s role in these job losses isn’t lost on Democrat Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Senator, who reacted to the Alpha news by saying that while the company had suffered competitive ups and downs over the years, ‘they can’t be expected to fight their own government too.’ He also told the Register-Herald in Beckley, West Virginia that ‘there’s a balance to be found between the environment and the economy and the EPA has worked very hard to avoid finding that balance.’” (Editorial, “Middle-Class Job Killer,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/23/2012)

OBAMA SAID HE WANTED ENERGY PRICES TO “NECESSARILY SKYROCKET” UNDER HIS CAP-AND-TRADE PLAN: “ ‘Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket,’ Obama told the Chronicle. ‘Coal-powered plans, you know, natural gas, you name it, whatever the plans were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.” (Catherine Richert, “Pence Claims that Obama said Energy Costs Will Skyrocket with a Cap-and-Trade Plan,” PolitiFact.com, 6/11/2009)

82% OF HOUSE DEMOCRATS RAMMED THROUGH CAP-AND-TRADE NATIONAL ENERGY TAX: Final Vote: 219-212. (Roll Call 477, Clerk of the U.S. House, 6/26/2009)

WSJ: CAP-AND-TRADE COULD HAVE BEEN “THE BIGGEST TAX IN AMERICAN HISTORY”: (Editorial, “The Cap and Tax Fiction,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/26/2009)

WOULD HAVE COST AS MUCH AS $3.1 TRILLION LOSS IN ECONOMIC OUTPUT: (“State-by-State Analysis of Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Legislation Paints Dour Picture for Nation’s Economy,” National Association of Manufacturers, 8/12/2009)

WOULD HAVE DESTROYED TO 2.4 MILLION JOBS: (“State-by-State Analysis of Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Legislation Paints Dour Picture for Nation’s Economy,”National Association of Manufacturers, 8/12/2009)

WOULD HAVE CAUSED UP TO 50% INCREASE IN ELECTRICITY PRICES: (“State-by-State Analysis of Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Legislation Paints Dour Picture for Nation’s Economy,” National Association of Manufacturers, 8/12/2009)

WOULD HAVE CAUSED UP TO 26% INCREASE IN GAS PRICES: (“State-by-State Analysis of Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Legislation Paints Dour Picture for Nation’s Economy,” National Association of Manufacturers, 8/12/2009)

Middle Class Job Destruction is the Price of Dems’ War on Coal http://ow.ly/dXqdW