Updated: Griffith blasts Obama after Alpha announces mine closings
Rep. Morgan Griffith
Bristol-based Alpha Natural Resources announced this morning that it will close eight coal mines, including three in Virginia, and eliminate 1,200 jobs company-wide. The Associated Press reported that Alpha will cut production 16 million tons by early 2013 as it shifts away from thermal coal used for domestic power generation and focuses on metallurgical coal used in overseas steel production.
An Alpha executive said the transition is necessary because power companies are shifting to abundant, affordable and cleaner-burning natural gas, and federal regulations have put new constraints on burning coal.
U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, issued a statement expressing dismay over the news and blasted President Barack Obama’s administration for regulatory policies designed to “make using coal history.”
Here’s Griffith’s full statement:
“The announcement of layoffs in Buchanan and Wise, added to the layoffs of two weeks ago at Consol, makes this already extremely disappointing news all the more troubling. Certainly, the coal industry, like so many other industries, experiences natural ups and downs. In today’s market, natural gas is plentiful and cheaper than coal, so in many instances it is being used as a substitute for coal. But, the fact that the coal industry has ups and downs isn’t news.
“The newsworthy issue lies with the additional burdens the Obama Administration is placing on folks like Alpha. As I’ve said before, President Obama, his Administration, and his allies – like MoveOn.org and the Sierra Club – are all very clear about their agenda – make using coal history. Take a minute to think about that. A group of government bureaucrats have decided the coal industry isn’t something that they like, so they’re going to try to force it out of business. This is appalling and it must stop. I and others in Congress will fight them. For all the hundreds of hard working men and women miners affected by today’s news and impacted by this agenda, please know that I stand with you. I’m proud to represent you. I’m proud to stand with coal. And I will continue to relentlessly fight against President Obama and all those who wage war on the coal industry.”
Republican U.S. Senate candidate George Allen also issued a statement on the mine closings:
“I’m saddened to hear of three more coal mines closing in Virginia because I know how much these jobs mean to families and all the hard-working people in Southwest Virginia. These closures will harm jobs for all the contractors and suppliers of the mine operations. This will have a detrimental effect on railroad jobs and all Virginians may have to ultimately pay higher electricity bills. Unfortunately, these mine closures are only the latest examples of how Washington’s regulatory assault on coal is turning Virginia’s coalfield communities into ghost towns. The political appointees of the unelected, unaccountable EPA are effectively banning coal through excessive, overreaching regulations that are forcing coal mines to shut down. My opponent’s advice on energy regulations is ‘don’t try to weaken’ them, while he has championed a Cap-and-Trade energy tax scheme that would further eliminate coal jobs and cause electricity prices to skyrocket. As a friend of coal, I am committed to standing up for the hard-working people of Southwest Virginia and ending Washington’s assault on coal that is hurting Virginia jobs, families and communities.”
Update: And now Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has weighed in:
“President Obama’s war on coal has claimed its latest victims with the news that 1,200 workers in states like Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania will lose their jobs. The Obama Administration’s economic and regulatory policies are destroying jobs across the country and coal communities have been among the hardest hit. For the sake of so many hardworking Americans and the families that depend on them, this must change. I have spent my life creating jobs. Barack Obama has spent his presidency destroying them. Coal country deserves better over the next four years.”
– Michael Sluss
September 18, 2012 - 1:43 PM
So it is Obama’s fault that “…40 percent of Alpha’s production cuts will come from high-cost eastern mines “that are unlikely to be competitive for the foreseeable future,” Crutchfield said, while about half will occur in the Powder River Basin. The balance of the cuts will come from lower-quality metallurgical coal“? Really?
If you cannot produce a product that is competitive or high quality within the rules everyone else operates under, why is that Obama’s fault? Griffith is whining and stretching.
So Griffith states that “In today’s market, natural gas is plentiful and cheaper than coal…”, and a privately owned company is making a business-driven decision to abandon domestic coal in order to focus on metallurgic coal to be used in China, and that’s somehow President Obama’s fault? I want some of what Griffith is smoking!
The cemetery man is living in the past today just as he did for allk his years in the General Assembly. Going backwards won’t get you anywhere. Instead of whining about the loss of mining jobs, how about doig something to create new jobs that are more consistent with today’s world?
How about getting retraining for those folks who are losing jobs in the coal mines and attracting some new technologically savvy businesses to SWVA. How about crawling out of the pockets of the mine operatorws and the Koch brothers and doing something for the PEOPLE of your district that doesn’t put their lives and health and that of your other constituents in danger.
So Supply and Demand is only good for some businesses but coal is not one of those? How dare these businesses switch from more expensive less efficient coal and go to more efficient and cheaper natural gas. Those natural gas people should be ashamed of themselves. I bet we are secretly importing all of our natural gas from China too.
The company’s own statement said they were going to “abundant, affordable and cleaner burning natural gas”. But the regulations are the culprit…and of course Obama. Griffith is the only thing that should be “history” here.
” I will continue to relentlessly fight against President Obama “
That’s all you had to say, guys. Why the verbosity?
This decision was based on investor returns and not the result coal regulations. They can’t employ all those people and provide the returns necessary because they can’t compete with a ubiquitous, cheaper, less labor intensive to capture competitor – natural gas. It’s that simple. You can’t claim to be a market capitalist and then dismiss its tenets when it suits your argument. If there were absolutely zero regulations on each industry, natural gas would be cheaper to capture, transport, and burn.
Of course Griffith is ranting, Alpha butters his bread. This is the politically expedient thing for him to do. Never mind the horribly unhealthy and dangerous working conditions of these mines and the well documented and unfathomable health risks that coal emissions are causing, Griffith is a corporate puppet. We saw what lack of federal oversight meant on wall street with the banking crisis. If Griffith thinks we should give polluters free reign so they have more money to spend on his campaigns, that’s fine, let’s just remember this is his political self interest at work and nothing more.
“An Alpha executive said the transition is necessary because power companies are shifting to abundant, affordable and cleaner-burning natural gas, and federal regulations have put new constraints on burning coal.”
Oh horrors. Abundant, affordable, and clean. Are we supposed to keep these coal mines going as a charity? Read p on buggy whips. Maybe coal’s time is over. It’s called “progress”, people.
Obama and his EPA destroying the coal industry
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2012/09/17/obama_deserts_coal_dems_desert_obama_290382.html
http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/07/news/economy/obama-coal-jobs/index.html
What an incredible example of partisan crap from the two Republicans. Gas is cheaper and cleaner and therefore is winning out over coal and somehow that’s Obama’s fault? Right.
#10 I notice that as he “shuts down” all these mines, everybody’s starting to run out of energy, maloof. Oh, wait, no they’re not. Instead, more people are using a cleaner, cheaper, and still abundant fuel. The HORROR.
And tell us, maloof, why the article (and you) didn’t mention the corresponding rise in jobs in the oil and gas industry? Oh, I guess that wouldn’t have sounded as apocalyptic, would it?
gdad, I can see the RWers in the late 19th c. railing against the new-fangled electricity because it was going to put the kerosene producers out of business.
Once again, maloof has proven why the TP/GOP crowd is called “low effort” voters. From his own link!
“The coal industry is indeed facing some tough times, and increased regulation is partly to blame. But its woes go beyond Obama’s policies.
The main culprit behind coal’s current troubles is natural gas. Utility companies are increasingly ditching coal in favor of cheaper, cleaner natural gas, which has hit near record-low prices.”
Sad. Just sad that hatred can make a person so dishonest!
#13 Indeed, Kristen. I didn’t even mention the rise in alternative energy jobs over recent years — even during, GASP, George Bush’s administrations.
Me? I’m dang glad I heat and cook with natural gas, but I guess maloof and others want me to clear out that old coal room in the basement (yes, I have one) and put it back to work.
When I drove through West Virginia recently a large sign said “Obama Job Free Zone”.. so true. This whole Country is an “Obama Job Free Zone”.. time for Obama to be “Job Free” himself!
#16 See, even Jack McGuire willfully ignores the REAL reason coal is on the downslide.
When I drove through WV last weekend I saw a bumper sticker that said “If Obama wins, America looses”.
With that mentality, America does indeed “looses”!
More than 200 coal-based generating plants are scheduled to shut down in the next three to five years, representing 31,000 MW of electric generating capacity, due to regulations issued by the EPA, according to an analysis released this week by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
The closures, which are spread across 25 states, are equivalent to shutting down the electricity supply of Ohio, the coal industry group said. Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina are expected to see the most closures, with a total of 103 coal units scheduled to shut down, according to the analysis.
The price of coal would be competitive without the EPA regulations. When the EPA first started, they were a great organization and did a lot of wonderful things to help clean up waterways and uncover industrial waste, etc. However, since they did do such a great job, getting to the next level is showing deminishing returns at huge price tags which are having negative results on the economy.
“That will cost money, they will pass that money on to consumers”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0Px4ccLQ-w&feature=related
How can the 23M people out of work buy $7 light bulbs, pay $30 more each time they visit the pump and purchase more efficient appliances?