President Obama & Chairman Kaine’s EPA Issues Job-Killing Regulations on Coal Fired Power Plants

Earlier this week, as the Supreme Court was hearing the oral arguments against Barack Obama and Tim Kaine’s intrusive healthcare law, the Obama Administration issued their job-killing EPA regulation on the coal industry.

According to the Sierra Club these new regulations will cease production of any new coal plants, kill jobs and increase energy rates on hard-working families in Virginia.  This is troubling for Virginians given that coalfields in the Commonwealth create thousands of coal-related jobs.

It’s an interesting development considering while campaigning in San Francisco in 2008, Barack Obama promised that his cap-and-trade program would bankrupt the coal industry.

As The Hill reports:

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed first-of-their-kind regulations Tuesday to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants. … Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune was even more blunt. He told Bloomberg that the rules “will make it nearly impossible to build a new coal plant,” and added that the market has been moving that way, so the rule “captured the end of an era.”  The rules drew quick criticism from industry groups. The National Mining Association immediately called on Congress to scuttle the plans.  “Volatile natural gas prices will, once again, expose millions of households to higher utility bills, threaten hundreds of thousands of workers with unemployment and weaken both the competitiveness of basic industries and the reliability of the nation’s electricity grid,” said the group’s CEO, Hal Quinn.  (Andrew Restuccia and Ben German, EPA unveils long-awaited climate rules for new power plants, The Hill, 03/27/12)

Notably, the League of Conservation Voters – a radical environmental group – has spent thousands of dollars supporting Kaine’s job-killing agenda for Virginia.

“As Virginians struggle with $4 a gallon for gasoline, it brings them little comfort to know that President Obama and Chairman Kaine’s EPA are implementing a mandate that will increase electric bills,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Brian Walsh.  “Virginians need a Senator who will not only stand up to Obama’s job-killing energy policies, but who’ll support policies that will expand our domestic supply of energy.”

Read more at NRSC