Stopping Anti-Coal Rule is Right Move for West Virginia

Press Release

U.S. Representative Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.) issued the following statement regarding President Trump's executive order rolling back a rule killing coal-fired power plants:

"I'm proud to stand with President Trump in declaring an end to the Obama administration's war on coal, a war that cost West Virginia thousands of jobs and threatened our very way of life. After eight years of radical environmental policies from the White House, we now have a president focused on bringing coal jobs back. This executive order is good news for West Virginia, for West Virginia's coal miners, and for West Virginia's economy, and I'll continue to work with President Trump on solutions that will move West Virginia forward," Rep. Jenkins said.

Rep. Jenkins joined a number of his colleagues in filing an amicus brief in support of West Virginia's court case against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its existing coal-fired power plant regulation.

He has also voted repeatedly to stop implementation of the Obama-era coal-fired power plant regulations, including helping to pass a congressional resolution of disapproval of the rule. He supported passage of the Ratepayer Protection Act, which would ensure states would not be forced to implement a state or federal plan if it would significantly hurt consumers or the reliability of the state's electrical system.

Through his work on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Jenkins secured policy riders in spending bills that would prohibit funding for the job-killing power plan. Finally, the congressman has introduced legislation, the Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act, which would prohibit the EPA and the Energy Department from using the social cost of carbon and social cost of methane as rationales for their costly and burdensome regulations.

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