CHARLESTON – West Virginia leaders and others are concerned about some executive orders and other actions planned by President Joe Biden.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says he disagrees with Biden’s decision to have the United States rejoin the Paris Climate Accord.
“Withdrawing from the Paris agreement in 2017 was the right thing to do, so it’s an immense disappointment that President Biden would recommit our nation to provisions that will harm the American economy and thus our citizens,” Morrisey said. “We should not be a party to it.
Morrisey
“Our nation can accomplish a cleaner environment and a brighter future without the Paris accord’s draconian measures, measures that our competitors, China and India, do not have to follow to the same degree, even though they are the biggest polluters of the planet. The working men and women of West Virginia, in particular our dedicated coal miners and those who rely upon their success, deserve much better.”
Morrisey also said he is worried about the resurgence of what he calls job-killing water and air policies.
“We are concerned by news that President Biden will direct a wide-range review environmental and energy policies, and our team would oppose any wholesale effort to erase four years of progress with a return to years of overreach and burdensome regulation,” Morrisey said. “Our office successfully blocked the Obama-era’s Clean Power Plan and Waters of the United States rule, saving an untold number of jobs.
“We did not hesitate to act before. We will not again.”
But, Morrisey said he hopes to work with the Biden administration to find a common ground “to preserve the clean environment that everyone deserves, while doing so in a manner that saves jobs and coincides with the rule of law.”
Morrisey also says Biden’s decision to halt the Keystone XL pipeline is a bad move.
“That President Biden would halt the Keystone XL pipeline demonstrates a lack of commitment to American workers and our nation’s energy independence,” Morrisey said. “New oil and gas pipelines like Keystone XL are crucial to each state’s economic vitality and durability.
“Our nation is blessed with tremendous natural resources, and the construction of new pipelines will enable Appalachia to process the bountiful reserves of natural gas that West Virginia has only just begun to tap into.”
Morrisey said shutting down the pipeline construction doesn’t bode well for West Virginia’s economy.
“Burdensome regulations increase our nation’s reliance on foreign oil, decrease good-paying jobs that put bread on the table for hundreds of thousands and increase energy costs for everyday Americans,” Morrisey said. “By tapping the vast energy reserves linked to these pipelines, we can unlock our nation’s potential to provide for its citizens and lead the world in energy production.”
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) agrees.
“Biden’s policies from Day One hurt American workers and our economy,” said Capito, who is a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Killing the Keystone XL pipeline and rejoining the Paris Agreement will eliminate good-paying jobs.
“This virtue signaling comes at the expense of low-income and rural families that rely upon industries opposed by liberal environmental groups. My constituents and I have not forgotten the harm brought by this approach under the Obama administration.
“In these next four years, it is imperative that Congress aggressively exercises oversight and pushes back on the worst impulses of Washington bureaucrats when it comes to West Virginians’ way of life.”
Congressman David B. McKinley (R-West Virginia) co-introduced a resolution highlighting what he calls the fundamental flaw in the Paris Climate Agreement that allows major economies such as China to continue increasing emissions while America is subject to a more stringent standard.
“Climate change is a global challenge and requires a global solution,” McKinley said. “But any agreement that gives major emitters like China a pass is simply window dressing. As John Kerry himself has noted, the United States could totally stop using coal, gas, and oil and it wouldn’t be enough unless the rest of the world joined in. We would still experience wildfires on the West Coast, droughts in the Midwest and hurricanes on the East Coast.
“America has already reduced its carbon emissions significantly over the past two decades. We need to play a leading role in developing the innovation on carbon capture and other technologies that can be deployed around the world to reduce emissions. However, entering into an agreement that fails to hold many of the largest emitters in the world accountable will only put our economy at a disadvantage for no gain.”
Also, Delaware-based nonprofit The Empowerment Alliance was critical of Biden’s signing of the executive orders regarding the Keystone XL pipeline and the Paris Climate Accord.
"We had hoped to release a statement today congratulating President Joe Biden on his inauguration and imploring him to hold firm to his multiple promises not to end fracking,” spokesman Ian Prior said. “Unfortunately, just hours after taking office, Biden revoked the permit granted to the Keystone XL Pipeline and re-entered the Paris Climate Accord.
"The last thing that the new president should be doing is taking actions that would kill jobs and raise energy prices for families in the middle of a pandemic; especially given America's low consumer energy prices and the cleanest air in nearly fifty years, due to the shale revolution.”
The Empowerment Alliance was created in 2019 with a goal of fighting the Green New Deal and promoting natural gas.
"After an inauguration speech focused on healing and unifying, it is beyond disappointing that one of President Biden’s first acts is to bow to the Greens with Greenbacks while leaving American families to foot the bill,” Prior said.
