CHARLESTON, W.Va. — United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts said recent action by Billionaire Michael Bloomberg to put $500 Million toward closing all coal-fired and natural gas fired power plants is a bounty on the people of Appalachia.
Bloomberg is putting his money toward a new imitative called “Beyond Carbon.” The former New York City Mayor wants the deadline to end the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity ramped up well ahead of the current 2035 deadline set by the U.S. EPA.
His actions have drawn the fire of Roberts for being unrealistic and potentially devastating to the economy, especially in the depressed region of Appalachian which always bares the brunt of any effort to scale back carbon use.
“This is ridiculous to think we can do this and it’s also ridiculous for anybody to propose doing this,” Roberts said in an interview on MetroNews Talkline Monday.
The union has been sharply critical of Bloomberg’s policy saying the nation will be left with a shortfall of necessary power if the coal and gas fired plants are suddenly mothballed.
“Putting $500 Million dollars out there, to me, he’s putting a bounty on everyone that makes a living either working at a coal fired power plant or mining coal in this country and in addition to that going after anybody who has a job working in the gas industry,” said Roberts.
According to Roberts, Bloomberg’s money will wind up in the hands of well known environmental activist organizations and will leave miners and their families with no voice.
“He’s giving this money to organizations like Earth Justice, the Sierra Club, and the League of Conservation Voters. To me, you’ve got a bounty being placed on workers and you’ve got bounty hunters taking the money as opposed to doing something constructive,” Roberts added.
All the while, Roberts and the union lament while the U.S. is taking drastic steps to reduce its carbon footprint, China and other emerging nations are expanding theirs to create a wider amount of affordable electricity to fund their nation’s economy.
“This is going to be devastating to the economy because prices for electricity are going to go through the roof and you’re going to have a huge number of people unemployed. On top of that if you are somehow able to find a job you’re going to be severely underemployed,” Roberts explained.
Bloomberg indicated he planned to take his fight to individual states with this round of funding. He said the gridlock in Washington has made his agenda impossible to get through in the Halls of Congress. However, he believes he’ll have a much friendlier reception in some of the nations best known capitol cities.