Contacts:

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

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

VIDEO: Top EPA Official: Obama Regs Killing Coal "Painful Every Step of the Way"

Inhofe To Deliver Speech This Evening Putting the Spotlight on the Obama-EPA’s War on Coal and How Congress Can Put A Stop To It

 

Top EPA Official: Obama Regs Killing Coal "Painful Every Step of the Way"

Washington, D.C. – This evening, Monday, June 4, 2012, Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, will speak on the Senate floor to highlight a little known YouTube video that shows a top Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official admitting that the whole point of the Obama EPA’s air regulations is to kill coal and that this decision was "painful every step of the way," because it will be devastating for coal communities across the United States. 

 

In this video, EPA Region 1 Administrator Curt Spalding tells a Yale University gathering that, “Lisa Jackson has put forth a very powerful message to the country,” that if you want to build a coal plant you got a big problem. Spalding goes on to explain that the decision was “painful” because “you got to remember if you go to West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and all those places, you have coal communities who depend on coal. And to say that we just think those communities should just go away, we can’t do that. But she had to do what the law and policy suggested. And it’s painful. It’s painful every step of the way.” (FULL TRANSCRIPT PROVIDED BELOW)

 

The language used by Spalding may sound familiar. In 2008, then Presidential candidate Obama described his approach to coal to the San Francisco Chronicle, saying that under his cap-and-trade plan, “if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted. That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in solar, wind, biodiesel, and other alternative energy approaches.”

 

The video released today is the second in a series documenting EPA’s regional administrators revealing the truth about the agency’s far left agenda to kill fossil fuels.  It follows a video Senator Inhofe highlighted in April which showed former EPA Region 6 Administrator Al Armendariz admitting that EPA’s “general philosophy” is to “crucify” and “make examples” of American energy producers.  Armendariz has since resigned, but this Wednesday, he will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on EPA’s “crucify them” agenda. As today’s video reveals, there are plenty of Armendarizes in this administration making sure that the Obama EPA is living up to its “reputation for abuse.”

 

Tonight on the Senate floor, Senator Inhofe will outline a plan to put a stop to President Obama’s war on fossil fuels and affordable energy.  In the next two weeks, the Senate will vote on a resolution by Senator Inhofe that requires a simple majority of those voting and present; this resolution would prevent the Obama EPA from going through with a rule known as Utility MACT, which is specifically designed to shut down coal plants across the country.  It would send EPA back to the drawing board to craft a rule in which utilities can actually comply instead of forcing them to shut their doors. 

 

Who: Senator James Inhofe

What: Senate Floor Speech

When: Tonight, Monday, June 4, 2012 (Follow us on Twitter for Exact Time, InhofePress)

Where: Senate Floor

Transcript: EPA Region 1 Administrator Curt Spalding

“But know right now, we are, we are struggling. We are struggling because we are trying to do our jobs. Lisa Jackson has put forth a very powerful message to the country. Just two days ago, the decision on greenhouse gas performance standard and saying basically gas plants are the performance standard which means if you want to build a coal plant you got a big problem. That was a huge decision. You can’t imagine how tough that was. Because you got to remember if you go to West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and all those places, you have coal communities who depend on coal. And to say that we just think those communities should just go away, we can’t do that. But she had to do what the law and policy suggested. And it’s painful. It’s painful every step of the way.

Watch full speech at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvS0DpI3SAo

Background Material: 

WASHPOST EDITORIAL: The EPA is earning a reputation for abuse 

Inhofe EPA Crucify Oversight Efforts Continue, Introduces EPA Regional Oversight Act of 2012 

STRASSEL: The 'Crucify Them' Presidency 

It is not just Armendariz: Inhofe EPW Press News Roundup

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