President Obama and his top climate change advisors released Tuesday their latest proposals to artificially raise the price of energy on every American. First on the chopping block; coal. The proposal joins a long list of efforts by the President to bypass congressional authority, and highlights a complete disregard for America's most reliable and abundant source of energy.
U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo) issued the following statement:
"The President was cheered on today at one of the nation's most elite Universities with a speech that catered to a crowd of the most privileged among us. But the financial implications of that speech -- a guillotine-style cut to the nation's coal industry -- on our country's average citizens living paycheck to paycheck must not be forgotten. It's those American families who will be left reeling from rising energy costs. It will be the employees of coal companies throughout the nation that will be facing unemployment lines.
"The President is a self proclaimed advocate for the poor and working class but his policies will only require tougher decisions for families budgeting at the kitchen table as he forces Americans to spend more money to turn on the lights. I don't think anyone should still live under the illusion that this administration is fighting for the middle class.
"Electricity is security. It is one of the most basic protections for a family. It's abundant and affordable, and so easily accessible to Americans that we take for granted what it means to be able to turn on a light in the evening, charge your cell phone, and keep your food from spoiling. If you've ever spent a few days in the dark because of outages, you know that reliable electricity is security.
"So consider for a second the consequences of cutting out of our supply that reliable, abundant energy source -- the provider of over 40% of American produced power. It may be an old cliché, but in the case of coal and your pocketbook, you won't know what you've got till it's gone."