Thousands of energy workers and miners Protest EPA’s Power Plant Regulations
Washington, DC – Count on Coal today released the following statement after hosting more than 3,000 concerned American energy workers at the US Capitol as part of the Rally for American Energy Jobs. More than 30 members of Congress, including Senators Mitch McConnell (KY) and Joe Manchin (WV) spoke at the rally. In all, more than a dozen states were represented at today’s rally.
As EPA is hosting ‘listening sessions’ on its power plant regulations in select states across the country, several thousand people from America’s coal communities rallied on Capitol Hill to protest these new regulations that have put their jobs and livelihoods at risk.
Hal Quinn, President and CEO of the National Mining Association, said “This is a bigger story than coal mining, although certainly our industry has been particularly hard hit. This rally is about job losses far beyond the coal fields. It’s about affordable electricity for all Americans and about keeping high-wage jobs in our manufacturing communities. If administration officials are listening today, they will hear these workers saying ‘don’t gamble with our jobs and our economy’. We’ll remind the administration of its pledge to follow an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy policy for our country – and that must include coal the energy source that generates more electricity than any other.”
Union leader John Roeber, President of the Montana State Building and Construction Trades Council said of the rally: “American energy workers from across the country today had the opportunity to voice their concerns about the future of American energy and hear from the national and state elected officials fighting to preserve their jobs. As someone who counts on coal for a good-paying union job in Montana, I hope federal officials will listen to what was said today and protect our jobs from overreaching regulatory policies.”
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