Rep. Jenkins Praises Court Decision to Pause Anti-Coal Rule

Press Release

U.S. Representative Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.) praised the Trump administration's victory in a federal court today on a landmark Obama-era anti-coal regulation.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Trump administration's request to pause an existing case on the so-called Clean Power Plan, an anti-coal regulation pushed through by the Obama administration. President Trump issued an executive order in March rolling back implementation of the rule, and the court's decision will likely make it easier for the administration to halt it.

"After eight years of radical environmental policies from the White House, we now have a president focused on bringing coal jobs back. The so-called Clean Power Plan is one of the Obama administration's key anti-coal policies, and the court made the right decision in giving the administration more time to roll back this job-killing rule. If this rule were to go into effect, we would lose thousands of good-paying coal jobs and our families and businesses would be facing double-digit increases in electricity costs. I will continue to support President Trump and his administration in stopping this rule -- and Obama's anti-coal legacy," Rep. Jenkins said.

Rep. Jenkins joined a number of his colleagues in filing an amicus brief in support of West Virginia's court case against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its existing coal-fired power plant regulation.

He has also voted repeatedly to stop implementation of the Obama-era coal-fired power plant regulations, including helping to pass a congressional resolution of disapproval of the rule. He supported passage of the Ratepayer Protection Act, which would ensure states would not be forced to implement a state or federal plan if it would significantly hurt consumers or the reliability of the state's electrical system.

Through his work on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Jenkins secured policy riders in spending bills that would prohibit funding for the job-killing power plan. Finally, the congressman has introduced legislation, the Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act, which would prohibit the EPA and the Energy Department from using the social cost of carbon and social cost of methane as rationales for their costly and burdensome regulations.

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