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Governor Earl Ray Tomblin promised to “aggressively pursue” the state’s lawsuit against the Obama Administration’s efforts to regulate the state’s mining industry out of business.
In his State of the State Address last week, Tomblin said he wants to nearly double the state Division of Energy's budget. He proposes increasing the agency’s budget by $200,000 from its current total operating budget of just $300,000.
The 2010 legislation aims to "make West Virginia a player in the national energy discussion" by raising the division's profile and expanding its range, said Sen. Brooks McCabe. The Kanawha County Democrat was the measure's lead sponsor.
Coal has a "short-term as well as an intermediate if not long-term role in the nation's energy policy," McCabe said. Besides reinforcing the importance of coal and natural gas, the measure encourages the division to promote the development of renewable energy sources from a rural state's perspective.
The eight-person Division of Energy receives federal funding to push renewable energy, but nothing for coal, gas and other fossil fuels, director Jeff Herholdt said. "There seems to be a different focus out of D.C."
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House Republicans are following through on their pledge to try and bring an end to the EPA’s assault on the American business community.
Three Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives -- Marsha Blackburn (TN), Shelley Moore Capito (WV) and Ted Poe (TX) each introduced separate bills aimed at blunting the EPA’s authority.
The three measures hamstring the agency's authority in different ways: Blackburn's would "amend the Clean Air Act to provide that greenhouse gases are not subject to the Act," even though the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that they are. Capito's bill would delay EPA from regulating carbon dioxide and methane for two years; and Poe's would prohibit any agency funding "to be used to implement or enforce a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases."
"Time is of the essence," Capito said. "The Democrats failed to act in any way to stop the EPA from implementing new rules pertaining to greenhouse gas emissions on January 2, 2011.Without congressional action to say otherwise, the EPA will continue to dismantle energy and manufacturing industries through regulation."
Republicans aren't the only ones working to limit the agency's climate authority: Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has announced that he plans to reintroduce his bill that would impose a two-year delay on EPA's ability to limit greenhouse gases. The Association supports a permanent moratorium on EPA’s authority.
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MetroNews - January 13, 2011
Senator Joe Manchin issued the following statement on Thursday, after speaking with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, about the EPA's decision to pull the permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine:
Senator Joe Manchin today voiced his strong opposition to the unprecedented decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to retroactively veto a coal mining permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County, West Virginia. The permit was already approved after an exhaustive, approximately 10-year regulatory process which included time for an extensive review by the EPA.
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The following statement is from Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement today that the Spruce Mine Permit in West Virginia has been vetoed.
LEXINGTON -- “Today’s action by Administrator Lisa Jackson and the EPA is not surprising, but it is unfair and unprecedented,” said Bissett. “By vetoing an existing federal water permit that was approved by the federal government previously, you have appointed bureaucrats literally throwing coal miners out of work. Hundreds of Kentucky coal operations and thousands of our miners depend on these same permits to go to work every day. Additionally, every other worker who depends on a federal permit for his or her livelihood - from agriculture to road construction - needs to pay attention to this veto. Today’s action by the EPA sends a clear message that following the law means nothing to this administration. It is our hope that our elected leaders in both Kentucky and Washington will hold these bureaucrats accountable for their actions and work to protect Kentucky jobs and our economy.”
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Charleston Daily Mail - January 14, 2011
CHARLESTON, WV--West Virginia political, union and business leaders fumed Thursday after federal environmental regulators revoked a permit for a massive mountaintop mining operation in Logan County.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in a long-expected decision, vetoed a 4-year-old permit for the Spruce No. 1 mine, which is owned by an Arch Coal subsidiary.
The EPA, which has stepped up its enforcement of mountaintop mining operations since President Barack Obama took office last year, said after a 15-month review that the project would simply do too much damage to the environment.
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"Today's EPA decision is not just fundamentally wrong, it is an unprecedented act by the federal government that will cost our state and our nation even more jobs during the worst recession in this country's history," Senator Joe Manchin, D-WV.
“I’m not going to say it’s political, but it’s a stance they have taken policy-wise that I think is extremely harmful to the United States of America and definitely to West Virginia. This is not just an assault on the coal industry. It's an assault on every job market in the U.S. economy. It might be West Virginia and the coal industry today. It will be your industry tomorrow." Senator Joe Manchin, D-WV.
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At full production the mine would have employed 235 miners and created another 300 indirect and induced jobs in the area.
The jobs created by the Spruce permit would have been high-paying, long-term employment opportunities. These jobs would pay approximately $70,000 annually with full benefits.
Total economic impact of this operation was estimated at approximately $150 million annually.
The permit is the most scrutinized mining permit in history in West Virginia or the Appalachian region.
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Yesterday’s decision by the Obama Administration and the U.S. EPA to revoke the permits for Mingo-Logan’s Spruce Mine shows an unbelievable arrogance and a total disregard for the impact this decision will have on the lives of West Virginia’s families.
The people of West Virginia deserve better treatment from their federal government. Time and again, the State of West Virginia and the Corps of Engineers have affirmed the issuance of this permit. For the EPA to ignore the needs of West Virginia communities represents malicious arrogance on the part of an agency determined to cripple Appalachian coal production.
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The 80th Legislature kicked off on Wednesday at noon with stability in the House and considerable drama in the State Senate as the leadership positions changed. The Senate re-elected Earl Ray Tomblin as Senate President so that he can continue to serve his constitutional duty as “Acting” Governor. Following lengthy debate Senator Jeff Kessler (D-Ohio) was elected “Acting” Senate President after the Senate rules were changed to recognize the position. Kessler appointed the leaders of the Senate with some key changes as John Unger (D-Berkeley) replaced Truman Chafin (D-Mingo) as Majority Leader and Roman Prezioso (D-Marion) became Finance Committee Chairman in place of Walt Helmick (D-Pocahontas). Cory Palumbo (D-Kanawha) was named Judiciary Committee Chairman while Herb Snyder (D-Jefferson) was named Chairman of the Government Organization Committee. Mike Green (D-Raleigh) will continue as Chairman of the Energy, Industry & Mining (EIM) Committee. Richard Bowning (D-Wyoming) will be Majority Whip as Dr. Ron Stollings (D-Boone) will lead the Health & Human Resources Committee and Bob Williams (D-Taylor) heads up the Agriculture Committee. Other changes and assignments will be reported in subsequent Coal Bits.
During the first three days of the Regular Session there were 599 separate bill introduced. The House of Delegates had 504 bills and the Senate received 95 new bills. The majority of these had been pre-filed (before the Session) and covered topics/issues that had not gotten attention in past Sessions.
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