Latest News - June 2012

The Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Matt Koch today spoke to the Rapid City Chamber.

Koch spoke of the importance of North American energy to the future and security of the economy. He says utilizing these resources creates jobs.

SPRINGFIELD – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says Illinois could play a key role in the nation’s long-term energy strategy.

Matt Koch of the Chamber says the U.S. will need 21 percent more energy by 2025. That puts Illinois, which produces ethanol and includes a number of coal mines and oil fields, at the forefront of domestic resources. “It positions you as one of the leaders,” Koch says. “As a producing state but also as a state that has a lot of demand.”

President Obama has attempted to duck responsibility for his failed energy policies with tired gimmicks and a farcical public relations tour, and now his administration is flat out hiding from House Republicans’ efforts to hold it accountable for an egregious power grab that is putting thousands of jobs and the future of American energy development at risk. On Friday, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy & Mineral Resources held an oversight hearing on the Obama administration’s attempt to revoke a previously-approved permit for American energy production at the Spruce coal mine in West Virginia. Members of the Obama administration who were invited to testify chose not to attend the hearing, dodging responsibility for actions several witnesses said are having a “chilling” effect on job creation, economic growth and energy development. Here’s more:

Witnesses in Attendance Explain Devastating $220 Billion Economic Consequence of Obama EPA’s Actions to Retroactively Revoke Coal Permit

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 1, 2012 - The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources today held an oversight hearing on the "Obama Administration’s Actions Against the Spruce Coal Mine: Canceled Permits, Lawsuits and Lost Jobs." The hearing focused on the Obama Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency’s unprecedented move to revoke a previously issued coal permit that would create hundreds of jobs in Appalachia. A Federal Court recently ruled that the EPA "exceeded its authority" under the Clean Water Act to revoke the already issued Spruce Mine No. 1 coal permit and that such an action required "magical thinking." The permit was declared “valid and in full force” but the Obama Administration is challenging the ruling, again trying to destroy coal mining jobs. While officials from the Obama Administration were invited to testify, none of them chose to accept the invitation and explain their actions to exceed their authority and destroy American jobs.

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) rejection of the Spruce Coal mine permit is the subject of today's hearing of the Minerals Resources Subcmte. of the House Natural Resources Committee. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) chairs the hearing.

In January 2011, the EPA revoked a permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers, citing provisions of the Clean Water Act that allow it to reject previously issued permits if a project threatens permanent damage to communities and water supplies. Under the Spruce Mine permit, operator Mingo Logan Coal Company would have buried over six miles of streams in Logan County, West Virginia.