Capito fights to save coal jobs, stop EPA greenhouse gas rule

The public comment period on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed greenhouse gas rule ended on Monday and Republican U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, from the coal-dependent state of West Virginia, added a final word.

Saying the plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants by 30 percent by 2030 “doubles down on the job-killing policies” of the EPA, Capito called on President Barack Obama to take appropriate action.

“I urge the president and his administration to listen to the concerns of working families in West Virginia and across the country and withdraw this misguided proposal,” Capito said. “I will keep fighting in Washington to save our coal jobs, keep our electricity affordable and reliable, and grow our economy.”

The EPA says its carbon dioxide emissions proposal is the equivalent of taking two-thirds of the nation’s cars and trucks off the road. It acted in response to a United Nations panel on climate change warning that the world must start reducing greenhouse gases to avoid irreversible changes to the ecosystem.

Capito, and others, see the plan differently.

“Thousands of West Virginia coal miners are out of work due in large part to the EPA’s regulations, and this proposed rule doubles down on the job-killing policies that hurt West Virginia families,” Capito said.