Issue Position: Energy

Issue Position

I believe that the United States needs a real "all of the above" energy strategy -- one that engages our domestic energy industries as partners in an all-out effort to create jobs, lower electricity and gas prices, and achieve American energy security.

STANDING UP FOR KENTUCKY ENERGY

We have a responsibility to take full advantage of the resources at our disposal to provide cost-efficient energy rates while also working to make the United States energy independent.

However, President Obama has waged a War on Coal since his first day in office. His Environmental Protection Agency has focused on destroying the coal industry, causing thousands of Kentuckians to lose their jobs.

I will continue to fight the EPA's efforts to ban coal mining in Eastern Kentucky and throughout Appalachia, as well as the regulatory assault that threatens the use of coal-fired electricity throughout this country, which are killing jobs and driving up electric rates.

President Obama and the EPA's ruinous policies are bad for the coalfields, bad for hardworking families, and bad for our economy.

When the EPA attempted to label coal ash as hazardous waste, I cosponsored H.R. 2218, The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act of 2013, a measure that blocks the EPA from slamming the coal industry when this unfounded regulation which would put hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk and drive up electricity and construction costs.

And when the EPA proposed coal industry crippling New Source Performance Standards as part of President Obama's supposed "Climate Action Plan," I immediately took action and co-sponsored H.R. 3140, the Ensure Reliable and Affordable American Energy Act, legislation to block the implementation of these job-killing and costly rules.

Furthermore, I am fighting the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers efforts to deadlock the coal permitting process by cosponsoring H.R. 1828, the Coal Jobs Protection Act. This legislation would put a time limit on consideration of these permits.

Additionally, to defend our coal miners' right to work to support their families, I cosponsored H.R. 2918, the Coal Healthcare and Pensions Protection Act, to ensure that promises of healthcare and retirement benefits made to our nation's coal miners are kept.

I have repeatedly called on President Obama to stop his assault on the coal industry. And as long as I am in Congress, I will use my voice to protect this industry that is so critical to maintaining Kentucky jobs and preserving some of the lowest utility rates in the nation.

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