Contact:

Matt Dempsey Matt_Dempsey@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-9797

Katie Brown Katie_Brown@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-2160              

***Media Advisory***

Inhofe to Outline Plan to Stop Obama's War on Coal at FreedomWorks Event   

Tomorrow, May 16th, at 7PM ET, FreedomWorks will host a free, live webcast with U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, to discuss his plan to fight back against President Obama's war on affordable energy, especially the barrage of regulations targeted at coal. RSVP for this webcast HERE.

At the FreedomWorks event tomorrow, Senator Inhofe will officially launch his effort to halt one of the Obama-EPA's most expensive and economically destructive rules: Utility MACT - a rule that will shut down 20 percent of America's coal-fired power plants and effectively ban new coal plants from being built in the future.  Senator Inhofe's Resolution, introduced under the auspices of the Congressional Review Act ("CRA"), will stop the Obama-EPA from implementing Utility MACT and require the agency to go back to the drawing board to craft a rule in which utilities can actually comply.

This vote in the Senate comes just as President Obama has had to face up to the consequences of his war on coal - and even Democrats are having "real frustrations" with the President's policies.  Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers, who supported President Obama in 2008, asked recently, "How do you take coal miners' money and say let's use it politically to support someone whose EPA has pretty much said, 'You're done'?" And Larry Puccio, Chairman of the Democratic Party of West Virginia, said, "A lot of folks here have real frustration with this administration's stance on coal and energy." Up until very recently, President Obama hasn't even tried to hide his intentions: while he's been claiming for months to be for an "all-of-the-above" approach to energy, his campaign website didn't even bother to mention coal.  Only after facing intense criticism last week, the Obama campaign attempted to add quietly a "clean coal" section to its site. 

"With growing bipartisan concern over President Obama's efforts to shut down American coal development, it's time for Congress to rein in the Obama-EPA," Senator Inhofe said. "The impact of President Obama's regulatory agenda is being felt across the country as Americans are suffering from lost jobs and higher energy prices. When my CRA comes to a vote, Senate Democrats will have to decide whose side they are on - their constituents who are feeling the economic pain of President Obama's war on coal, or President Obama, who is needlessly causing it.  This will likely be the vote on coal this year so Democrats will have this one chance help save their constituents' jobs."

Senator Inhofe's effort on this CRA comes shortly after exposing the Obama-EPA's "crucify them" agenda on American energy producers. With Americans feeling the increased pain of higher energy prices thanks to the Obama administration, President Obama has claimed to support natural gas development, all while having an administration working hard to stop hydraulic fracturing. 

Who: Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, Max Pappas, FreedomWorks Vice  President of Public Policy and Government Affairs, and Wayne Brough, FreedomWorks Chief Economist and Vice President of Research.

What: A live, streaming webcast to discuss Senator Inhofe's efforts to stop the EPA's runaway regulatory power.

When: Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 at 7 PM EST.

How: RSVP HERE for this event and receive an email on May 16th with a link to the webcast.

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