Coal Miners Rally in Pittsburgh

Two days of public hearings began today in Pittsburgh on proposed rules by the EPA that would set more stringent standards for the emissions of CO2 from coal-burning power plants. These rules are being proposed to stave off global warming. Similar hearings were held earlier this week in Atlanta, Denver, and Washington, D.C., but these hearings in Pittsburgh, right in the middle of the coal-rich Appalachians, attracted a great deal of attention from the coal industry and its political supporters.

            Yesterday the coal industry held a rally. Called an affordable electricity and energy jobs rally, the gathering included Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, and labor leaders. The rally was attended by hundreds of West Virginia coal miners.

            Tomblin, an unabashed supporter of the coal industry, spoke at the rally in support of the coal companies and against the proposed new power plant rules. Now, before going much further, let me give credit to Tomblin, who, as he spoke at this rally, did not deny the connection between burning coal and warming up the world. He did, however, have a pretty harsh critique of the Environmental Protection Agency. He described the proposed carbon rules as “unreasonable restrictions” and “ideological policies” that would eliminate jobs in the coal region. He also used a race-to-the-bottom argument that reducing the emissions of U.S. power plants would raise electricity rates and send manufacturers overseas to countries that don’t govern their power production so well or don’t govern it at all.

            I don’t claim that Tomblin or other politicians’ concern for jobs is insincere. It is nonetheless interesting to me how well their concern for the employment of their constituents dovetails with the concerns of industry.  Back when the auto industry and the steel industry decided to move operations overseas and allow America’s industrial belt to crumble and turn into the rust belt I don’t recall a great number of politicians pontificating on the concern to keep Detroiters or Pittsburghers in their jobs.

 

When did politicians hold rallies to keep jobs in Detroit and Pittsburgh?

As I said above, I give credit to Tomblin for not denying climate change. And I guess in a weird way I have to give credit to Nick Casey, the former chairman of West Virginia’s Democratic Party who is now running for Congress. He doesn’t deny climate change either. But in a meeting with some of West Virginia’s largest lobbying groups he said that global warming is not a problem to be addressed by West Virginians. “It’s not our problem,” he said, because global warming is an international issue.

            Excuse me, I hope the quality of my writing doesn’t suffer as I keep pounding at the keyboard, but right now my head is spinning. Nick Casey is saying global warming is not a West Virginia problem because the problem belongs to the whole world. Well, well, well. I’m not even sure where to start with this. It is true that as the seas rise and the oceans grow more and more acidic West Virginia will not be immediately affected. The amount of warming that the Mountain State experiences may not be as great as what is expected in other places. So Casey could be right that global warming may not be a big problem for West Virginia. But, as a state with a lot of coal and natural gas, it is, undeniably, their responsibility.

            And my head still spins.

            

A Great Day For the People of Appalachia

This is a great day for the mountains. Actually, the great day was yesterday, but I’m just getting around to blogging today, but it’s still a great day. Anyway, yesterday a panel from the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the EPA is within its authority to set up a process, in coordination with the Army Corps of Engineers, to review Clean Water Act permits for mining operations.

            Ever since the enactment of the Clean Water Act, which requires permitting for dumping or dredging in the waterways of this country, it has fallen to the Army Corps of Engineers to issue those permits. Having the Corps perform this function made sense, as this agency has been building dams, canals, and flood control structures.

            Since taking office in 2009 and in an effort to mitigate the pollution and destruction that is the legacy of mountaintop mining, the Obama administration has been involving the EPA in the review process for mountaintop mining permits. The court’s ruling, which came from a three-judge panel, invalidated lower court decisions by U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton that sided with the mining companies who claimed that the EPA was overstepping its authority in working with the Corp on permitting for the mines. Yesterday’s decision sends the case back to U.S. District Court.

Thank you, Mr. President for improving the lives of Appalachians

As more and more science indicates that mountaintop removal is bad for people’s health (see here, here, and here) and is bad for the environment (see here, here, here, here, here, and here), it only makes sense that the EPA should take part in permitting for the mines. And if you’ve ever seen the destruction caused by these mines, you wonder why the EPA hasn’t been part of the process all along.

ALEC's Efforts to Harpoon EPA Limits on CO2

I’m never surprised when I read news like this. Using documents obtained from the American Legislative Council (ALEC), the Guardian has found a coordinated effort by the GOP and big business to harpoon the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gasses.

            ALEC, which is funded in large part by the coal company Peabody Energy and the Koch brothers, and which holds a strong stance against the EPA, has been encouraging state attorneys general to bring lawsuits against new EPA regulations that restrict emissions from power plants. ALEC encouraged legislators to perform similar lobbying of governors and state attorneys general. The organization also got legislation into about a dozen state houses that would impinge on the efforts of the EPA to reduce carbon emissions.

            The new rules for power plant emissions came out last year. In a somewhat surprising move this week, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA has the authority to enforce a similar rule that protects downwind states from the pollution caused by power plants in other states.

            Considering all the big money and the organized effort against the EPA and any program to reduce the amount of carbon that we pump into the atmosphere, it amazes me that any progress can occur. But it does. There may be hope.

Good News About Coal And Coal Mining? Can You Believe It?

Wow. That’s all I can think right now. Wow. I just got this news story in from Reuters. In a consent decree reached with the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency Alpha Natural Resources and its subsidiaries have agreed to spend about $200 million to install and operate wastewater treatment systems and begin upgrades to current systems to reduce toxic runoff from their mines that pollute streams throughout Appalachia.

            Alpha will also pay $27.5 million in civil penalties for thousands of permit violations. This is the largest penalty in history for violations of Section 402 of the Clean Water Act.

            In other good news, Spaniards are showing some good sense in banning mountaintop removal from the beautiful mountains of their northern region.

            Is today Christmas? It sort of feels that way to me right now.

UPDATE: For more on the Alpha story check out Ken Ward's blog here. 

Snoopy and Charlie Brown are happy for the mountains and the folks who live there.

West Virginia Governor Tomblin Meets With EPA Administrator McCarthy, Maddening Irony Ensues

Gov. Tomblin criticizes ‘unreasonable’ EPA rules

The above link takes you to Ken Ward’s Coal Tattoo blog in which he reports on the meeting between West Virginia governor Earl Ray Tomblin and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. In the same meeting in which the two discussed the poison water crisis in southern West Virginia, Tomblin complained about the Environmental Protection Agency’s “unreasonable” rules.

            Tomblin’s comments about unreasonableness concerned the agency’s greenhouse gas regulations and not regulations on chemical containers and toxic spills in rivers, but even still the irony meter must have gone off the charts while the governor spoke to the Washington official.

Senator Mitch McConnell Wants to Fast Track Mountaintop Removal Permitting With the Coal Jobs Protection Act

Not to be outdone by Joe Manchin, his Democratic colleague from neighboring West Virginia, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell announced plans to introduce a bill similar to Manchin's EPA Fair Play Act that would restrict the ability of the EPA to protect our land and water. In his press release, McConnell was joined by West Virginia GOP Representative Shelly Capito, who is introducing similarly worded legislation to the House of Representatives.

            McConnell’s “Coal Jobs Protection Act” would place time limits on the EPA’s approval process. Under the bill, the EPA would have 270 days, or slightly less than nine months, to grant Clean Water Act 402 water pollution permits. The agency would have a year’s time to conduct environmental assessments on proposed valley fills under the Clean Water Act’s 404 permitting process, something that the EPA estimates to take, on average, about three years. The proposed legislation goes on to say that, “Failure to act within that time frame for approval of a 404 permit would mean the application is approved, the permit is issued, and the permit can never be subject to judicial review.” In other words, McConnell wants hastily approved permits for mountaintop mines or they will automatically be approved by default. And after that, they cannot be questioned.

            The bill would also disable the EPA from regulating carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.

            Unmentioned in the press release is the recent court victory that allowed the EPA to revoke the permit for the Spruce Mine No. 1 in West Virginia, but it does include figures on declining coal production in Kentucky, stating that in 2012 the state’s total coal production fell by over 16 percent and direct employment from coal mining fell by over 22 percent, with 4000 miners in eastern Kentucky loosing their jobs. Of course by including these figures in the press release McConnell implies that the EPA is somehow responsible for this lowered productivity and job loss, when it is in actuality the extremely low prices for natural gas that have industry abandoning coal.