Rep. Gary Palmer to EPA: Listen to Coal Workers

U.S. Representative Gary Palmer, who represents Birmingham and much of north central Alabama in the state’s 6th congressional district, last week sent a message to the EPA: listen to the state’s laid-off coal workers when pushing new regulations. Palmer has been a staunch opponent to new EPA rules that he believes represent an overreach of the agency’s authority under federal rules.

A report filed last week by Howard Koplowitz with AL.com includes a video recently released by Rep. Palmer’s office that highlights the voices of Alabama coal miners who have lost their jobs. In the past year, fifteen hundred coal miners in the state have been laid off.

“Think about the families you’re affecting. Think about all the jobs you’re closing down,” Renea Aldridge of Woodstock, Alabama, says in the video. “I keep thinking the coal industry will never be the same again.”

Watch the Video Here

Similar to PACE’s argument that EPA’s new carbon mandate represents a bad bargain for American consumers, Palmer likewise argues that the rules will kill coal-mining jobs while doing little to impact carbon dioxide levels.

“If fully implemented the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations will have negligible, if any, positive impact on the environment, but they will have a substantial and detrimental impact to the economy and jobs,” Palmer said. “Moreover, these regulations are resulting in higher household energy costs that are especially hard on low-income families and senior citizen households. The EPA should do what I have done – take an opportunity to meet these coal miners and hear their stories about how regulations have impacted their lives and livelihood. The EPA would learn that these are real people with families, not statistics that don’t matter.”

Meanwhile, another leader in Congress, Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, is advising states to disregard a recent announcement from the EPA. Inhofe is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

In a recent communication to the states, Inhofe told state leaders to ignore recent guidance from EPA on the agency’s Clean Energy Incentive Program. He argued that EPA should not continue to push the program since the Clean Power Plan has stalled.

“EPA’s continued work on the Clean Energy Incentive Program is inconsistent with the stay and part of EPA’s last-ditch effort to save the president’s legacy carbon mandates,” Inhofe argues. “States should not waste their resources or worry with the EPA’s latest actions. The agency has no respect for the rule of law or decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States and would rather progress a political priority at the expense of American taxpayers. The highest court in the land has already ruled that EPA’s activities are on legally vulnerable ground and states heeding the court’s direction should not fear penalty.”

The guidance from Sen. Inhofe and the comments from Rep. Palmer represent growing pressure from Congress on EPA rules. PACE wrote earlier this month on the heavy toll that EPA regulations, combined with market forces, are taking on America’s coal industry and the communities that depend upon it.

“The EPA may view these coal miners and their families as collateral damage in the pursuit of their agenda, but we cannot sit back and accept this,” Palmer explains. “We must stand up for the victims of the EPA’s overreaching and scientifically questionable policies.”