CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Reaction in West Virginia was swift to a move by the Trump administration’s EPA to remove Biden and Obama-era rules for burning coal and natural gas to generate electricity.
“This is going to be framed by the ‘lunatic greenoes’ as an extreme step and it is not that. This is taking us back to an era of rational energy policies,” said West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey.
The action nullified the power plant carbon rule and proposed to rescind all remaining greenhouse-gas regulations for power plants under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act.
“The tide has turned. I think people have started to realize what the idiocy of these extreme left green policies have done to our economy, has done to the middle class, and what’s been done to their pocket books,’ he said.
Governor Patrick Morrisey offered up praise as well.
“Today marks an important victory for reliable, affordable American energy after years of fighting federal efforts to shut down West Virginia’s coal and natural gas industries. President Trump and Administrator Zeldin understand that America needs more energy, not regulations that force dependable sources of power off the grid and drive up costs for families and businesses. This action will help protect West Virginia jobs, strengthen our electric grid, and allow our state to continue powering the nation,” said the Governor is a statement released soon after the restrictions were lifted.
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, who chairs the Senate’s Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, also responded favorably.
“Finally, under President Trump’s leadership, we are ending the Biden-era Clean Power Plan 2.0, which was designed to eliminate coal and natural gas power generation, drastically increasing Americans’ electric bills. I have long opposed this rule and warned of the devastating economic impacts it would have in West Virginia, and the energy reliability concerns it would create across our country. I am grateful for EPA Administrator Zeldin’s steadfast commitment to reversing harmful regulations that would penalize coal and natural gas energy generation, as well as his continued support for affordability, electric grid reliability, and American energy dominance,” Capito said.
The EPA’s action negates mandates which would have required the installation of carbon capture technology. According to the West Virginia Coal Association, the technology has not been demonstrated as broadly reliable and would have been extremely expensive. The EPA estimated the repeal of those regulations will save more than $300 billion nationwide.
“Today’s action is a win for West Virginia coal, our electric grid, and the families and businesses that depend on affordable, reliable power,: said Chris Hamilton, president of the Coal Association. “The prior rule threatened to force the premature retirement of dependable coal-fired generation and impose enormous compliance costs that ultimately would have been paid by ratepayers.
“McCuskey said he hoped the changes would be reversed once and for all so future efforts wouldn’t require constant court fights to maintain affordability.
“We just can’t allow extremism to overtake logic and real world experience. What we know is this is going to work if it’s allowed. I’m very hopeful the American public is going to start to see what a rational energy policy does to the economy of this country because it’s going to do nothing but raise the middle class and give everyone a better chance at the American dream.” said McCuskey.
The changes will also clear the way for natural gas to have a bigger seat at the table. Rebecca McPhail, President of the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia stood alongside EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for the announcement.
“Today’s announcement is an important step toward ensuring America has the reliable, affordable energy needed to meet growing demand. West Virginia sits atop one of the world’s most abundant natural gas resources, and we have an enormous opportunity to put that resource to work,” McPhail said in a press release.
“A regulatory framework that recognizes the essential role of natural gas provides greater certainty to invest in the dispatchable generation America needs. For West Virginia, that means an opportunity to use more of our natural gas to generate electricity, create jobs, strengthen our economy and protect reliability for consumers,” she added.