Griffin: House Is "Standing Up for Energy Workers and Middle Class Families'

Press Release

Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement after House passage of the Stop the War on Coal Act (H.R. 3409):

"First President Obama stopped drilling in the Gulf, then he blocked the Keystone XL pipeline, all while waging war on coal. Earlier this week, another 1,200 Americans miners lost their jobs--the latest casualties of President Obama's attack on American energy workers. By passing the Stop the War on Coal Act, the House is standing up for energy workers and middle class families and fighting to spur American energy production and help get folks back to work."

The Stop the War on Coal Act includes five key pieces of legislation:

· The Coal Miner Employment and Domestic Energy Infrastructure Protection Act (H.R. 3409)

· The Energy Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 910)

· The Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act (H.R. 2401)

· The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (H.R. 2273)

· The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act (H.R. 2018)

On January 17, 2008, Barack Obama admitted: "If somebody wants to build a coal-fired power plant, they can. It's just that it will bankrupt them." He also added that "Under my plan…electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."

On September 16, 2008, Joe Biden declared that the Obama-Biden ticket stood for "No coal plants here in America."

On July 19, 2012, CNN reported: "[I]n the past two years, an increasing number of coal-powered electricity plants across the country have announced closures. Estimates vary, but banking and industry analysis firm Credit Suisse put expected and known closures for 2009-2012 at 111 plants, that's one-fifth of the nation's nearly 500 coal plants….[A main factor in the demise of those plants is] a new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency [that] is pushing the price of coal up."

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