Mining For Votes

From Patrick Howley’s article in The Washington Free Beacon:

The Utility MACT costs taxpayers $11 billion per year, according to EPA estimates. Insiders have said the rule’s costs are actually much higher, and have led to plant shutdowns and higher electricity costs for low-income families.

“The Utility MACT rule greatly diminishes demand for coal by effectively banning coal-fired power plants and causing the retirement of existing coal-fired power plants,” said William Yeatman, energy policy expert at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Utility MACT is a major reason Alpha Natural Resources is reducing its thermal coal operations in both Appalachia and the Western United States, according to Yeatman.

“The Utility MACT rule is one of a series of regulations that don’t serve a purpose,” Yeatman said.

“It’s a political measure. Barack Obama told the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board in 2008 when he was running for president that he would bankrupt coal. Why? Because coal is the enemy of the environmentalist groups that form part of his financial base.”