National Mining Association (NMA) President and CEO Hal Quinn issued this statement following today’s release of the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) report detailing the harmful economic consequences of the Clean Power Plan:
“The EIA report released today should be read by every governor. It contradicts claims by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that its Clean Power Plan will help their economy. And it confirms that this costly power plan will ‘lock-in’ a more expensive and risky energy future for their citizens.
“EIA’s analysis aligns with other studies showing EPA’s power plant rule doubles down on recent agency policies by forcing another 50,000 megawatts of low-cost coal base load power capacity off the electric grid. American households and businesses will pay more and get less with double digit electricity price increases in the near term while facing the prospect of power interruptions as the reliability of the electric grid is further degraded.
“Notably, the promised reductions in carbon dioxide emissions will have no discernable effect on climate as reductions from the forced closure of low cost power plants are off-set by additional emissions from new fossil fuel power plants needed to fill the power gap at higher cost.
“In short, EIA confirms EPA’s rule is all pain, no gain — a symbolic, but expensive gesture that continues the administration’s policy path for destroying high wage jobs for generations. In a possible foreshadowing of what to expect, more than 30,000 coal miners have lost their jobs since 2011, when EPA issued earlier power plant rules. With four additional jobs supported by each coal mining job, more than 150,000 high-wage jobs have been lost or impaired by unbalanced policies over the past three years. Unfortunately, more losses are on the way if EPA has its way.”