Maloney
Tomblin
MORGANTOWN (Legal Newsline) -– The Republican candidate in West Virginia's gubernatorial race, Bill Maloney, has called on Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to actively oppose the environmental policies of the Obama administration, which he characterized as a "war on coal."
"Once again, Earl Ray Tomblin has answered our call for action," Maloney said in a press release. "Last year, we called for a special session on Marcellus gas drilling, and Tomblin finally did. This year we called for legal challenges to EPA actions, and Tomblin finally did."
Maloney says Tomblin, who is a Democrat, is not convincing Obama to stop efforts to bankrupt the coal industry. He said this is exactly what Obama's EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson is intending to do.
"There is only one way to stop the war on coal: defeat Barack Obama," Maloney said. "I am the only candidate for governor who is actively campaigning against Barack Obama and who will be voting against him."
He noted that a "37-year career politician like Earl Ray Tomblin doesn't understand that the EPA is doing exactly what Barack Obama wants: bankrupting the coal industry."
Maloney called for Jackson to be fired.
Chris Stadelman, Tomblin's campaign spokesman, said Tomblin is fighting for West Virginia's coal industry.
"Governor Tomblin has consistently battled President Obama"s over-reaching EPA to defend West Virginia's coal industry, and he will continue to do so," Stadelman said. "He led the state's intervention on behalf of Arch Coal's Spruce permit, and a federal judge agreed that the EPA had exceeded its authority and ordered the permit be approved.
"He recently joined with other states to sue in opposition to the MACT Rule, another attack on West Virginia jobs, and he opposes the latest EPA efforts to eliminate West Virginia jobs with regulations that would effectively ban the construction of coal-fired power plants.
"Governor Tomblin consistently fights for our coal industry and for job-creators, and he will continue to do that."