Daines Stands with Montana Families Agains Obama's War on Coal

Press Release

Representative Steve Daines today condemned the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) newly announced regulations to place further restrictions and costs on Montana coal production.

The EPA's rules, which seek to cut power plant emissions by 30 percent by 2030, would diminish coal's role in energy production, force higher energy costs upon American families and cost good-paying Montana jobs.

"President Obama's latest job-killing regulations are just another step in this administration's war on coal that kills Montana jobs and hurts Montana families. President Obama's policies completely disregard the hardworking Montana families who rely on the access to affordable energy and the thousands of good-paying union jobs that are created by our state's energy industry,"Daines said. "Montanans know firsthand the damage that results from these shortsighted policies -- higher electricity bills, lost jobs, and lost opportunities. I will continue to stand with Montana families against the President's job-killing agenda."

Daines, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee and Congressional Coal Caucus, has been standing with Montana families at the forefront of the fight against the Obama administration's war on coal.

Daines is a co-sponsor of H.R. 3826, the Electricity Security and Affordability Act, which would provide that Congress, not the EPA, set the effective date for any carbon dioxide regulations developed by the EPA. It passed the House earlier this year but has been blocked from coming to the Senate floor for a vote.

He also helped to pass H.R. 2824, the Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America Act, which would save American jobs and taxpayer dollars by preventing the Obama Administration from continuing a wasteful process to develop new job-destroying coal regulations.

Key Facts on Montana Energy:

* Montana's coal mining industry employs approximately 1,215 workers

* Montana contains more coal reserves than any other state and ranks number six overall in coal production nationwide

* Montana gets more than half its power from coal, keeping electricity prices low. The average retail price in Montana is currently 8.42 cents per kilowatt hour, among the lowest in the nation.

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