The following statement was released today by National Mining Association (NMA) President and CEO Hal Quinn in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standard for power plants using fossil fuels to generate electricity:
“EPA has ignored the concerns of thousands of American workers and millions of consumers that rely on affordable and reliable coal-based electricity to power their factories and light their homes. At every opportunity, EPA has chosen the most costly and economically damaging options over a more prudent and balanced approach for achieving continued emission reductions at our nation’s power plants.
“The cumulative economic impact of this and other rules pouring out of EPA has been spared rigorous analysis—leading many experts to project dire cost increases and threats to the reliability of the nation’s electricity supply. Unfortunately, consumers and businesses will not be spared the projected 25 percent increase in the cost of electricity nor the consequences of a far less reliable electricity grid that must somehow compensate for the loss of one-fourth or more of coal-based generation.
“The modest adjustment to the compliance timeline in the MACT standard merely papers over a deeply flawed rule. The MACT, along with other EPA requirements, have been needlessly rushed through the regulatory process without the benefit of constructive analysis, meaningful interagency review or candid conversations with the American public about the consequences of these policies to our economic future.
“NMA will continue to pursue sound public policies that support, rather than discriminate against, using America’s most abundant and secure fuel—U.S. coal—and the men and women who have stood with this country in meeting its electricity needs.”