Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason made the statement regarding Senator Bob Casey’s vote against S.J. Res. 27, a resolution of disapproval on Utility MACT (Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxic Standards rule):
“It’s alarming that Bob Casey has officially joined Obama’s war on coal by voting with the President instead of the people of Pennsylvania. Coal is a critical industry that creates thousands Pennsylvania jobs, but the Obama-Casey team continue to support EPA regulations that can have economically devastating effects. Casey can’t run from his clear and continued support of President Obama’s disastrous economic agenda and hostility toward job creation. Voting with President Obama 98% of the time has put politics first and Pennsylvania last. Casey’s vote today is just another reason why Pennsylvanians will be much better served by new Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tom Smith.”
The Utility MACT rule is causing many power plants around the country to close and eliminates new coal-fired power plant construction. For Pennsylvanians, especially those in coal-mining communities or where EPA regulations threaten the shutdown of a coal-fired power plant, the economic impacts will be devastating. Manufacturers and their employees throughout our state will be at risk from the higher costs of electricity. In fact, in Pennsylvania alone, Utility MACT and other EPA rules have been projected to increase electricity costs by up to 10% and risks thousands of jobs in our state. The poor and elderly living on fixed incomes will be hit the hardest by the price increases.
Tom Smith, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, released the following statement: “I applaud Sen. Inhofe and his colleagues who supported the measure. Unfortunately for Pennsylvania and America as a whole that group did not include Sen. Bob Casey. As the owner of several coal mining companies, I was on the receiving end of President Obama and Senator Casey’s costly, job-killing regulations. I saw firsthand the damage that an out-of-control government can do to an American economy struggling to create jobs. The President’s EPA has clearly declared a war on coal – an industry crucial to our economy and Sen. Casey has done nothing to support the energy industry and the Pennsylvania jobs it creates.”
Even Casey’s fellow Democrat, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has said, “[The] announcement of yet another onerous rule by the EPA completely ignores the devastating impact these regulations will have on jobs and our economy, not only in West Virginia but across this nation. The Utility MACT Rule, combined with the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule that was finalized earlier this year, are two of the most expensive regulations ever to be imposed, and every American should be concerned about their effect on energy prices, the reliability of our power supply, our coal mining industry and most importantly our families.”
Gleason concluded, “Senator Manchin isn’t headed to the convention because of Obama’s war on coal. Will Senator Casey join him?”
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Sounds like coal is losing. We should throw a party or do a little dance. Maybe we’ll have enough coal left for the next ice age when we really need it. One thing’s for sure, if you folks continue to fight the war on coal takin’ your cues from Kentucky Republicans and pr bozos, your goin’ to miss all the fun you could have had winning the COAL WAR! How lucky are you to have discovered that now before the Derby train reverts back to wood steam! CARPE’ DIEM! END COAL USE NOW! Community energy is Democratized Energy. It fortifies us, communities, from the treachery of greedmongers and other rich men and insulates us from the volatility of religious and political coal, oil, and natural gas markets. It might even protect us from the tyranny of the Republican War on Coal, and slurpees.