STOP THE WAR ON COAL, MINING JOBS
Foxx Votes to Protect North Carolina Mines and Miners from Government Overreach

 Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) today voted to help end the Obama Administration’s war on coal and support North Carolina’s energy and mining industry from oppressive government regulations. The Coal Miner Employment and Domestic Energy Infrastructure Protection Act (H.R. 3409) passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 233 –175.

“The President’s war on coal is a threat to thousands of American jobs, many in my home state of North Carolina,” Congresswoman Foxx stated. “The regulatory assaults propagated by this Administration will only help to make high energy costs rise higher.”

“The Coal Miner Employment and Domestic Energy Infrastructure Protection Act provides some necessary accountability to the President’s regulators and will keep them from unilaterally crippling the domestic coal industry.”

“America wants energy security. The Keystone Pipeline, coal, and coal-fired plants play a role in getting the country to that point. The President and his regulators should be less invested in subsidizing coal projects in China and more involved in supporting American mines and the jobs they provide.”

H.R. 3409 is comprised of a series of bills that aim to stop the unaccountable EPA from imposing a liberal cap-and-tax agenda on the American people through the auspices of the Clean Air Act.

Specifically, the Coal Miner Employment and Domestic Energy Infrastructure Protection Act will prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from issuing regulations under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act that will:

• Adversely impact U.S. coal mining employment;
• Cause a reduction in coal revenue to governments through regulation of coal mining;
• Reduce the amount of coal available for domestic consumption or export;
• Designate any area as unsuitable for surface coal mining and reclamation operations; or
• Expose the U.S. to liability for taking the value of privately owned coal through regulation.

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