McKinley: 1,100 More Casualties of War on Coal

Statement

Last night, Alpha Natural Resources announced it would be idling eleven of its mines, resulting in 1,100 layoffs. The company blames Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on power plants for the layoffs.

"This is another example of how the lives of thousands of men, women, and children are being ripped apart by the actions of the EPA and its callous disregard for hardworking Americans," said Rep. McKinley.

Earlier this week, Rep. McKinley went to the EPA headquarters in Washington D.C. to testify against these job-killing regulations and told EPA officials to visit West Virginia to see how their policies are hurting families.

"If the EPA's bureaucrats got outside the Beltway and went to southern West Virginia today, they could visit 1,100 families and see first-hand how these families are hurting today," added McKinley. "These people are not statistics; they are husbands and wives, moms and dads, neighbors and friends."

"Let's be realistic," said McKinley. "These regulations being proposed for coal fired power plants are impractical, unattainable and avoidable. There are real consequences to this anti-coal agenda by the EPA and Obama Administration. Just ask any of the 1,100 families that now have a cloud of uncertainty hanging over them. The EPA needs to take a step back and stop these excessive regulations that are destroying entire communities in southern West Virginia and across the country."

Source