Rep. Capito Testifies at EPA Headquarters

Statement

At the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Washington headquarters this morning, U.S. Representative Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) testified that the agency's proposed greenhouse gas rule would hurt West Virginia's economy.

"With this unprecedented rule, the EPA has gone far beyond requiring existing coal plants operate as efficiently as possible. Instead, the very framework for this rule is built around shifting the country away from coal. The federal government has no business picking winners and losers in the energy economy, but that's exactly what the EPA's new rule would do," Rep. Capito said.

She also took the EPA to task for refusing repeated requests to hold a listening session in West Virginia.

"By refusing to come to West Virginia, to Ohio, to Kentucky, you send a message to this part of the country that our views and that our experiences do not matter. To have the federal government refuse to even listen to a segment of the American people is frustrating, demoralizing and frankly insulting," she said.

Rep. Capito's full testimony as prepared for delivery is below:

"I am here to express my state's strong opposition to the proposed greenhouse gas rule for existing power plants. With this unprecedented rule, the EPA has gone far beyond requiring existing coal plants operate as efficiently as possible. Instead, the very framework for this rule is built around shifting the country away from coal. The federal government has no business picking winners and losers in the energy economy, but that's exactly what the EPA's new rule would do.

"I'd like to share with you what your new rule would do to my state. If you had come to West Virginia, you would have seen and heard this for yourself. The EPA has held 11 public listening sessions on this rule, not one of which was held in any one of the 10 states that rely most heavily on coal for electricity generation.

"If you had come to West Virginia, you would have heard from coal mining companies and coal miners who depend on this work to feed their families. Like Roger Horton of Logan County, a retired coal miner and UMWA member. When he testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in October, he said the EPA's policies are "condemning [mining families] to lives of poverty and despair.'

"But you also would have heard from the people who don't work in the mines but directly rely on the industry and its electricity to keep their companies afloat.

"You might have heard from Christian Marsh of Quality Machine, a fabrication and machine manufacturer in Bridgeport. This business used to do most of its work on behalf of the coal industry but has seen a significant drop off in its coal business.

"You might have heard from businesses like Felman Production in Letart or Constellium Rolled Products in Ravenswood -- both companies that employ hundreds of West Virginia workers in energy intensive manufacturing. Manufacturing jobs that could be placed in jeopardy by higher electricity prices as a result of this new rule.

"By refusing to come to West Virginia, to Ohio, to Kentucky, you send a message to this part of the country that our views and that our experiences do not matter. To have the federal government refuse to even listen to a segment of the American people is frustrating, demoralizing and frankly insulting.

"My state of West Virginia has already lost 5,000 coal mining jobs between 2012 and 2014. Many more jobs are at risk because of this agency, this president, and regulatory efforts that go far beyond what Congress intended when it passed the Clean Air Act.

"My state of West Virginia, which relies on coal for 95 percent of its electricity, will be one of the biggest losers under the proposed rule, but we are certainly not alone.

"A recent report from the Institute for Energy Research found that electricity prices in West Virginia could increase by more than 50 percent by 2020, even before including the effects of today's proposed rule.

"This rule, which would cause even more coal capacity to be taken offline, would increase energy costs for consumers across the country. We saw this with the European Union's carbon regulations, which increased residential electricity prices by 55 percent between 2005 and 2013.

"The proposed rule will be bad for the American economy, and it will be catastrophic for working families in West Virginia. U.S. households pay half as much for electricity than households in the European Union and a third as much as households in Germany.

"Because of the energy intensive nature of manufacturing, low-cost American energy helps keep jobs in the United States -- jobs our economy desperately needs.

"Coal miners and power plant workers aren't the only workers who lose under the proposed rule. Forfeiting our energy advantage will send more American manufacturing jobs overseas and hurt workers all across the economy.

"As our governor has said, not a single coal plant in West Virginia meets the average standard of 1,620 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour that would be imposed on the state. While I recognize that doesn't mean that every coal plant would have to close, it also means the closure of a number of coal units would be mandatory.

"Our economy benefits from having a diverse energy mix and an all-of-the-above energy strategy. I want my state to produce both coal and natural gas in order to maximize job opportunities for West Virginians.

"During January and February 2014, 92 percent of the increased demand for energy nationally was met by coal. American Electric Power, which operates in West Virginia and across the Midwest, was operating 89 percent of the coal capacity that will be shut down next year due to other EPA regulations. We will always have periods where energy demand surges. But after this proposed rule and others like it, we will be unable to meet that demand.

"In the House of Representatives, I have worked tirelessly to help the people of West Virginia and to highlight the consequences of this administration's energy policies on my state. And I've continued to invite the EPA to come to West Virginia and hear all sides on this issue. I offered a bipartisan resolution in the calling for the EPA to hold sessions in coal-reliant states. I wrote twice to Administrator McCarthy inviting the agency to come to West Virginia and listen to my constituents. The rule has been proposed, and still the EPA has refused to come.

"I'm here today so that once, if only for five minutes, you, the EPA, are forced to confront the consequences of the agency's decisions on the people I represent.

"This proposed rule threatens West Virginia's economic survival. I will continue to lead efforts in Congress to stop this disastrous rule, and I promise you that my state and its people will also fight this proposed rule every step of the way."

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