Leave it to the Obama administration to gallop in on white horses in a quest to rescue the beleaguered West Virginia coalfields while ignoring the fact they’re the ones who helped destroy it in the first place.
In reality the president’s POWER initiative wouldn’t be necessary if it weren’t for overreaching, burdensome and likely unlawful regulations pushed by the Environmental Protection Agency under his appointees.
In March, the White House announced the POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) program that aims to align, leverage and target federal economic and work force development programs in areas negatively affected by changes in the coal industry and power sector, according to a fact sheet.
That sounds great, and the program could help revitalize the southern coalfields. But Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said she’s concerned the president doesn’t realize his policies helped caused the problem in the first place.
“I don’t want a pat on the head and the creation of a committee and millions of dollars put in to make everybody else feel better. I just don’t have a very optimistic view of the way the (Obama) Administration is looking at the economic devastation that’s occurred,” Capito said on MetroNews radio show Talkline.
The junior senator has introduced legislation to stop the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, set to go into effect this summer. The controversial proposal would mandate states cut their carbon emissions, a move opponents say moves the nation’s energy market away from coal, which produces much of the nation’s energy.
Although the regulations haven’t gone into effect yet, and there have been lawsuits filed to stop the rules, the coal and power industries are preparing anyway. Because of those regulations and others, coal-fired power plants across the country, including some in West Virginia, have had to shut down or are in the process of closing.
Coal mines also can’t keep up with EPA regulations. Companies have continued to lay off workers, which only perpetuates the cycle of unemployment in the southern part of the state.
The money flowing into Southern West Virginia from the federal government will no doubt help some families who have been affected by the EPA’s regulations. Perhaps that money wouldn’t be necessary, though, if the Obama administration let economic forces act on their own and determine which sector produces the nation’s energy.
The POWER initiative comes across as disingenuous and condescending. The people of Southern West Virginia don’t want a handout from the government — they just want to work.