By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Congressman Spencer Bachus (R) from Vestavia issued a written statement on Friday to announce that he had voted in favor the Stop the War on Coal Act in the U.S. Congress. The measure passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a margin of 233 to 175.
Congressman Bachus said, “At a time when we have again been reminded of our dangerous dependence on energy from hostile regimes, it makes no sense to take American-mined coal off the table. It is our most abundant domestic energy resource and the industry employs thousands of people in the State of Alabama alone. Coal is a vital part of our national energy mix and can play an important role in achieving greater energy security for our country,”
The legislation is designed to deal with the over reach by Obama’s EPA. New onerous regulations designed to protect us from CO2 have closed coal fired electric plants, driven up the cost of electricity in some states and cost the nation thousands of good paying jobs in America’s abundant coal fields. One provision of the bill would prevent EPA from establishing a ‘cap and tax’ regime on coal use. Another provision would require EPA to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the cumulative effects of new regulations on the economy.
During President Obama’s first term he proposed a massive new CO2 policy to Congress. When the Democrat controlled U.S. Senate balked at the potential economic ramifications of the President’s proposal he implemented much of the package anyway by Presidential fiat, claiming that the original EPA legislation gave him the power to regulate carbon dioxide (CO2)….an oderless, tasteless gas that all animals give off in normal respiration. Plants trap CO2 as part of their normal growing process. Many in the science and environmental activist community claim that our burning of fossilized plants and animals in the form of coal and oil to power our vehicles, factories, and electric power plants is releasing too much CO2 into the atmosphere and is having an effect on the weather.
Rep. Bachus noted in his press release the important role that coal plays in the Alabama economy.
Despite bipartisan support for the bill it faces an unlikely future in the Democrat controlled Senate where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) from Nevada has prevented many House bills from ever coming to the floor. If it passed the U.S. Senate, the bill would appear to be unlikely to be signed into law by President Barack H. Obama.
Former Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for President of the United State has promised to roll back much of the massive expansion of federal regulatory power that has occurred under President Obama.
Congressman Spencer Bachus represents Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District. He is Alabama’s senior member of the U.S. House. Representative Bachus is seeking an 11th term in the Congress. His November 6th Democratic opponent is retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Penny Huggins Bailey from Leeds.
