Posted by Katie Boyd
President Obama has attempted to duck responsibility for his failed energy policies with tired gimmicks and a farcical public relations tour, and now his administration is flat out hiding from House Republicans’ efforts to hold it accountable for an egregious power grab that is putting thousands of jobs and the future of American energy development at risk. On Friday, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy & Mineral Resources held an oversight hearing on the Obama administration’s attempt to revoke a previously-approved permit for American energy production at the Spruce coal mine in West Virginia. Members of the Obama administration who were invited to testify chose not to attend the hearing, dodging responsibility for actions several witnesses said are having a “chilling” effect on job creation, economic growth and energy development. Here’s more:
- West Virginia State Senator Art Kirkendoll warned that “by disregarding 13 years of environmental analysis that went into the Spruce mine permit with the stroke of its veto pen,” the Obama administration “has essentially chilled the permitting process,” holding back economic growth and job creation. As Kirdendoll noted, approval of the Spruce mine “mobilized investment to initiate coal production, restoring life and economic vitality to these previously decimated areas,” but “all of that promise and potential is now threatened” by an administration “willing to reach beyond its statutory authority to target an industry and a region without regard for impacts to real people.”
- Karen A. Harbert, president & CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, said that as a result of the Obama administration’s actions, “hundreds of projects and businesses in America today could question whether they too might retroactively have their lawful permits revoked or recaptured,” which will “reduce and delay a broad range of projects, increase the cost of doing business, and reduce the number of jobs at a time when job creation is most critical.” “Attempting to withdraw their approval and retroactively veto the permit almost two years after issuance not only causes immediate economic loss to the mine owner and workers employed to support the mine,” Harbert added, “but also creates a substantial negative economic and chilling impact on the economy.”
- Ross Eisenberg, Vice President of Energy and Resources Policy at the National Association of Manufactures (NAM), said that the Spruce mine would create “at least 250 new, well-paying jobs in Logan County, West Virginia” where “only 39.5 percent of the county’s residents” are employed and “21.8 percent of the people residing there live below the poverty level.” However, the Obama administration’s “retroactive veto brought with it significant investment uncertainty with respect to currently held permits and permits to be acquired in the future. Inevitably, that uncertainty would translate into higher risks in borrowing, less investment, lost jobs and slower growth throughout the U.S. economy,” Eisenberg warned.
Attempting to revoke the Spruce coal mine permit is just one of many glaring discrepancies between the Obama administration’s rhetorical support for Republicans’ all-of-the-above energy policy, and its record of opposing coal-fired energy and the thousands of jobs that come with it. Excessive Obama administration regulations are already forcing plant closures across the United States, and, as Speaker Boehner noted in a letter to the White House earlier this year, threaten to destroy 180,000 jobs per year and shut down 12 percent of America’s coal-fired power – at a time when the economy is struggling to create jobs and American families are grappling with higher costs on everything from gas to groceries.
If President Obama is serious about supporting an all-of-the-above energy policy, he can begin by calling on Senate Democrats to pass several bipartisan, House-passed energy bills they continue blocking. Under the American Energy Initiative and the Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators, the House has already passed several bills that will roll back excessive energy regulations and unlock more of America’s resources to help address gas prices and create jobs. Those efforts will continue, but it is up to Senate Democrats to take action so these bills can be enacted. Learn more at jobs.gop.gov, and by “liking” the American Energy Initiative on Facebook.