WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after the House of Representatives this week passed legislation of which he is a cosponsor, H.R. 1644, the Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining Act (STREAM Act), by a vote of 235-188:
Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after the House of Representatives this week passed legislation of which he is a cosponsor, H.R. 1644, the Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining Act (STREAM Act), by a vote of 235-188:
“This important legislation will save mining jobs throughout the country and put an end to the Obama Administration’s secret science justification for the president’s war on coal. Obama’s continued efforts to implement his ideologically-driven coal regulations will kill hundreds of thousands of jobs and take billions of dollars out of the pockets of hard-working Americans. This administration continues to churn out an onslaught of top-down, duplicative mandates that will wreak havoc on our economy.
“Even more troubling, deception and a lack of transparency are being utilized to implement this misguided new regulation. Shamefully, states─which have traditionally had primary jurisdiction on these matters regulating 97% of the nation’s coal mines─were not consulted in this process. To make matters worse, information leaked in 2011 when the agency was crafting this new mandate indicated the agency was trying to cover up job losses that would be associated with this new rule. The agency has even changed the technical name of this proposal in an attempt to further pull the wool over the American public’s eyes. Ultimately, Obama’s attempts to put more coal companies out of business will only increase our electricity prices and put more of our family members and friends out of work, while failing to yield any discernible difference for the global environment.”
Background
Congressman Gosar is a cosponsor of H.R. 1644, the STREAM Act.
The Office of Surface Mining has a history of producing job crushing regulations based on secret science.
The Stream Act blocks the administration's proposed 'Stream Buffer Zone Rule', requires that the science used to justify any future regulatory proposal be posted online, requires a neutral third party to study the effectiveness of the current regulations, and prevents the Obama Administration from overstepping its legal authority.
A 2012 Economic Impact Study found that the Obama Administration’s announced Stream Protection Rule could potentially sterilize between 30% and 43% of recoverable reserves which will have devastating effects for both surface and underground coal mines. The study also found that the associated decline in annual coal production as a result of this rule will have a direct impact on our economy and employment, potentially killing between 133,441 and 273,227 mining-related jobs, and having an associated economic impact of $18 to $25 billion annually.
Information provided by the National Mining Association confirms that approximately 40,000 coal jobs have been lost in America during the Obama Administration. Production of U.S. coal has fallen to the lowest levels in the last 30 years. Since 2009 alone, more than 200 different plants have been forced to close their doors.
This week, “Arch Coal filed for Chapter 11 protection on Monday, continuing an industry collapse that includes the bankruptcies of Patriot Coal, Walter Energy and Alpha Natural Resources.” Unfortunately, these jobs creators are among the many casualties of the president’s partisan games.
