Articles

 Congressman Steve Daines today condemned the Obama administration’s attempts to wage a war on American energy by imposing new regulations that force higher energy costs upon American families and will cost good paying Montana jobs.

“The EPA’s latest job-killing regulations show how committed President Obama is to waging a war on American energy, with little regard to how these costly policies will affect Americans’ access to affordable energy and the thousands of jobs that depend on our energy industry. In Montana, where more than half of our power comes from coal, we’ve already seen the devastating consequences of President Obama’s war on coal—from rising energy costs to the mothballing of the Corette Power Plant in Billings, we know firsthand how harmful these misguided and short-sighted policies can be. This is a war on Montana energy, Montana families and small businesses and Montana jobs, and I remain committed to stopping the President’s job-killing agenda.”

Daines’ concerns were echoed by Montana industry leaders, including the Montana Building Trades Council.

“Today’s announcement of New Source Performance Standards is direct evidence that the Obama Administration is holding its standards so high that it’s technically impossible to meet,” said John Roeber, President of the Montana Building Trades Council.“The Administration, without common sense, is killing the middle class that also lives in the country and works in the coal industry.”

Key Facts on Montana Energy

• Montana’s coal mining industry employs approximately 1,215 workers
• Montana contains more coal reserves than any other state and ranks number six overall in coal production nationwide
• Montana gets more than half its power from coal, keeping electricity prices low. The average retail price in Montana is currently 8.42 cents per kilowatt hour, among the lowest in the nation.
• The Keystone XL pipeline is poised to directly create nearly 1,000 Montana jobs
• Rural electric cooperatives that would provide power to Keystone XL pump stations have stated that failure to construct the pipeline would lead to a 40 percent increase in consumer electric rates over the next 10 years