Lawmakers, Coal Industry Slam EPA Regs at Capitol Hill Rally

Photo Credit: Graeme Jennings/ExaminerThousands of coal miners swarmed the Capitol’s west lawn Tuesday to protest forthcoming Environmental Protection Agency regulations that they say will kill jobs in coal communities.

The estimated crowd of 3,000 at the industry-sponsored event railed against greenhouse gas emission rules floated by President Obama’s EPA. Attendees, as well as lawmakers who spoke at the event, contended the agency is putting their livelihoods in jeopardy.

“We’re going to push back against these people in every chance we can. We are going to stop this war on coal,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said at the event. “[Obama] has created a depression in eastern Kentucky.”

The EPA’s carbon rule for new power plants is due by June, and the one for existing plants is scheduled for June 2015.

Republicans, centrist Democrats and industry officials say those impending rules, which are the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s plan to address climate change, will drive energy prices higher, stunt the economy and create ghost towns out of coal communities.

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