Op-Ed - Obama's War on Coal

Op-Ed

It's no secret that President Obama is not a fan of coal.

That's an understatement.

If there ever was a question about the Administration's feelings on coal, it's simple -- just take a look at the people the President has hired to carry out his agenda.

"Coal is my worst nightmare." This statement didn't come from a child with visions of sugar plums on Christmas Eve; rather, this statement was made repeatedly by President Obama's top appointee at the Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu.

Chu has stated that the future of coal will be dependent on whether or not clean-coal technologies are developed. But the Wall Street Journal notes that Chu does not have high hopes for the development of clean coal technology. A December 2008 article reported Chu's lack of confidence, pointing to remarks he made regarding the future of clean coal: "It's not guaranteed we have a solution for coal," Chu said.

Ironically, the DOE's mission statement includes its duty "to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States; to promote scientific and technological innovation in support of that mission…"

Irony isn't lost on recent statements by a member of the President's supposed "clean coal task force" either. Nancy Sutley, who also chairs the White House Council on Environmental Quality, recently said at a conference that she calls into question whether clean coal even exists. "Other people have labeled it "clean coal,'" Sutley said. "I don't know if I would necessarily concede that that is real."

To the Obama Administration's disappointment, the Democrat-led Congress has failed in several aggressive attempts to pass a cap and trade energy overhaul. Cap and trade, more aptly described as "cap and tax," would devastate Wyoming's energy economy by raising the cost of coal usage, which would in turn place a national energy tax on Americans. Cap and tax would set an overall cap on how much carbon dioxide our nation emits into the atmosphere. The costs would be passed on to you and me.

But the Democrats' lack of success in passing an assault on coal isn't stopping the Obama Administration; the administration is attempting to use any means it can to raise costs on traditional energy sources.

On July 28, a high-ranking Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official told a gathering in Washington that the Obama Administration is planning to issue several regulations on coal, not to make coal-fired power plants more environmentally sound, but to significantly raise the cost of coal use. The goal is to make coal, America's cheapest and most abundant source of electricity, as expensive as other, "cleaner" (and heavily government-subsidized) sources. Because they have so exaggerated the danger of climate change and therefore lost the trust of Americans, they are now attempting to alter Americans' behavior by attacking our wallets. Sound unbelievable? Sound like social engineering of the first order? That's because it is.

This July, Rob Brenner from the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, said, "It's not really fair competition because [coal-fired power plants] are cheaper than they should be because they're not controlling their pollutants." Take careful note that Brenner was not alleging that the coal industry isn't following the law. Rather, he is saying that to date, the EPA has not put enough restrictions on coal. By adding as many regulations as they can, the EPA will make the playing field "more fair" by making coal more expensive. I have to hand it to Mr. Brenner, this is the most open admission of the Administration's desire to hang Americans out to dry with skyrocketing energy costs as any I have ever seen.

I do not have to reiterate to you who live in the Powder River Basin how important coal is to Wyoming's economy -- and our country's. Wyoming coal supports roughly 20,000 jobs and generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues annually for state, local and federal governments. Nationally, Wyoming accounts for 40% of the nation's coal production and coal provides roughly half of the nation's electricity. It's also important to note that coal is American energy, and it allows us to be less reliant on foreign countries for fuel.

Despite coal's well-established contributions, the effort to punish our energy economy is already underway. At last count there are at least six major regulations under consideration, each of which will raise the cost of coal usage in America. The EPA has gone so far as to use agency "guidance," which is intended to be an explanation on how to comply with laws passed by Congress, to actually change the laws themselves.

Some have called the EPA a rogue agency. However, that would mean it is acting outside the intention of the Obama Administration. I don't believe it is rogue. I believe the EPA is acting at the direction of the President, and has been ordered to attack the very principles of free markets that helped to make this country great.

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