The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register
For about two years we have been among those warning that if President Barack Obama is allowed to proceed with his war on coal, the wolf will be at many doors in our region.
Well, the wolf is on our doorsteps.
242 Jobs will be lost at AEP due to EPA regulations
Governor Earl Ray Tomblin issued the following statement after learning American Electric Power (AEP) will close three West Virginia power plants by 2014 resulting in the loss of 242 jobs. AEP cites environmental regulations issued by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the cause of the impending closures.
In a press release issued Thursday, Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., co-founder of the Congressional Coal Caucus, expressed disappointment and frustration that American Electric Power will be forced to cut jobs and decrease production in order to comply with a series of regulations proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that would impact coal-fueled power plants.
The coal industry joined 12 other affected industry groups in filing “friend of the court” briefs in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia supporting Arch Coal’s Mingo Logan Coal Company motion for summary judgment in the Spruce Mine case.
In the first brief, the National Mining Association, the West Virginia Coal Association and other state coal associations focused on exposing the flawed science and predetermined outcomes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) relied upon in making its final determination to retroactively revoke the Mingo Logan Spruce Mine Clean Water Act Section 404 permit.
The West Virginia Coal Forum will host a conversation on the potential state impact of new air quality rules being promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
This conversation will feature UMWA President Cecil Roberts, representatives of our Congressional Delegation (invited), leaders of the State Legislature, representatives of industry, experts in environmental & energy policy and leaders in the electrical industry.