It was a happy day in mining country last fall when Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the Trump Administration would scrap the EPA's Clean Power Plan (CPP) and the onerous emission standards purposefully designed to shutdown the coal industry.
“The EPA [should not] and no federal agency should ever use its authority to say to you we are going to declare war on any sector of our economy,” Pruitt affirmed. “The past administration was unapologetic, they were using every bit of power, authority to use the EPA to pick winners and losers on how we pick electricity in this country. That is wrong.… It is right for this administration to say the war is over.”
Yes and no. Like Yogi Berra once said, it ain't over 'til it's over.
The day that Pruitt declared the end of the war on coal – Oct. 9 in Hazard, KY – is one to remember and should be recorded in our history books. Nevertheless, the EPA is still infested with holdovers from the previous regime. In combination with left-wing politicians, eco-ideologues, and the green energy producers who support them, they are doing everything they can to keep the war on coal going (or take it underground, so to speak) and thwart efforts to embrace U.S. energy independence.
Before Pres. Trump took office, West Virginia State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and peers from other states successfully challenged the Power Plan in court and delayed its implementation.
Once installed in the White House, Trump issued an executive order halting implementation, but a lawsuit challenging that order soon ensued. Morrisey, et al. intervened again.
Now Morrisey is leading a coalition pushing for permanent rescission of CPP.
“I am pleased to work with President Trump’s EPA in reviewing the devastating effects of this job-killing rule,” Morrisey said. “Permanently abolishing the Power Plan will provide a much anticipated feeling of relief among West Virginia coal miners and their families” – and signal that the war on coal is truly over.