Posts tagged House of Representatives

According to The Hill, Congress has one week left in Washington before retreating to their districts to focus on campaigning. Apparently, the plan in the House of Representatives is to “stop the war on coal” and to try, again — this is at least the third time, to prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from regulating coal ash.

The House is slated to vote this week on the latest GOP bill to thwart White House environmental policies that Republicans call economically burdensome.

The “stop the war on coal” package provides Republicans a final chance before November’s election to use the House floor as a platform to slam President Obama’s green agenda.

 

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It would nix the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and take aim at other air pollution rules; restrict planned EPA rules governing management and disposal of coal ash, a waste product from coal plants; and restrict potential Interior Department rules on coal-mining wastes; among other provisions.

 

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Many Democrats and environmentalists say Republicans are seeking to prevent or roll back vital public health protections. They argue that headwinds facing the coal industry stem from low costs and large supplies of natural gas, not federal regulation.

Read more: “The week ahead: Coal, climate at center of House battle,” BY Ben Geman, The Hill

Regarding the connection to health care costs:

The EPA estimates that nationally it will cost $20.3 billion a year to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste and $8.1 billion to regulate it as non-hazardous. The agency also estimates this regulation will save $290 billion annually in health-care costs.

Read more: “Government oversight remains ‘grossly inadequate’ in coal-ash waste control,” BY Rhiannon Fionn, Creative Loafing

And, on the jobs front:

The Utility Solid Waste Activities Group (USWAG) has claimed that strict regulation of ash disposal could lead to the loss of more than 300,000 jobs. An independent analysis by economist Frank Ackerman finds the industry claim “simply unbelievable,” because he discovered “arithmetic errors,” “wild extrapolation,” and a “groundless claim about potential losses due to the stigma of regulation.” When Ackerman reconstructed the job-impact analysis of strict coal ash regulation that compares the employment costs of higher electricity prices to the employment benefits of increased spending on coal ash safety, he discovered that there would be a net increase of 28,000 jobs.

Read more: “Study: Coal Ash Rules Will Create 28,000 Jobs While Saving Lives,” BY Brad Johnson, Talking Points Memo

Let your representatives in Washington D.C. know how you’d like them to vote on the coal ash issue. Click here if you need to look up your representative’s contact information.

If you need a refresher on the EPA’s proposed coal ash regulations, click here.

Photo: Coal ash “bag house” at Aurora Energy in Fairbanks, Alaska