WVCA and state legislators offer support for ARENA Act

Leaders of the West Virginia Legislature and the West Virginia Coal Association (WVCA) have called on member of Congress to pass the ‘Affordable Reliable Energy Now’ Act (the ARENA Act) recently proposed by Senator Shelley Moore Capito.

The ARENA Act aims to prevent the US Environmental Protection Agency from setting technology-based standards for power plants unless that technology has been proven to work at several locations and is commercially viable. It would also extend the EPA’s rule-compliance dates pending final judicial review and require the agency to issue state-specific plans for how states could meet the proposed air emissions reductions.

“Senator Capito introduced this bill to be a powerful legislative weapon in the fight against President Obama’s war on coal,” said West Virginia Senate President, Bill Cole. “Nobody is against clean air but the extend that President Obama and his EPA want to go will cause devastating harm to our coal industry and thousands of West Virginia families.”

According to the WVCA, the state’s coal production has dropped 31% and the industry has lost a fifth of its jobs under the Obama Administration.

Adapted from the WV Coal Seam blog of the West Virginia Coal Association by Jonathan Rowland. Original blog written by T.L. Headley. 

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/20052015/wvca-and-state-legislators-offer-support-for-arena-act-2304/