WASHINGTON AND EPA ARE CHOKING WEST VIRGINIA’S ECONOMY Posted by Larry Lacorte 5sc on July 31, 2014 · Flag BECKLEY, WV - Senator Mike Green (D-Raleigh) said today that the announcement by Alpha Natural Resources to close 11 West Virginia mines, affecting 1,100 jobs, is devastating to Southern West Virginia. Alpha attributes the shutdowns to weakening global coal prices and government regulations. “Washington and the EPA are choking West Virginia’s economy,” said Green. “No other industry has been so harshly hit with unprecedented regulation so expeditiously,” added Green. “It is unfair that D.C. bureaucrats fail to see the devastation they are causing hard working West Virginia families. My heart and prayers go out to each miner and their family affected this day.” As a former chairman of the West Virginia Senate’s Committee on Energy, Industry and Mining, Green has been a strong advocate at the statehouse for coal. He has been a leader and advocate for clean-coal technology and served on a multi-state legislative think tank to advance carbon sequestration. Additionally, he helped rewrite laws that overregulated the coal industry to keep West Virginia mines open and workers on the job. “Two mines within my senate district are affected today,” said Green. “While we in West Virginia may have little power over what they do in Washington, I’m asking my colleagues and every West Virginian to join me and implore those who are choking West Virginia’s economy to take a hard look at the impact they are having on our friends, families and neighbors.”
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 23:19:26 +0000