Abby L. Harvey
GHG Daily
1/14/2016
President Barack Obama had much to say about climate change in his final State of the Union address Tuesday evening, and the country had just as much to say back.
In the speech, Obama announced that one of his goals during the remainder of his time in the White House would be to transition the country further from fossil fuels to cleaner forms of energy. “I’m going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet,” Obama said.
This announcement did not please members of Congress representing states with economies reliant on coal. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said Obama’s continued push to wean the nation off coal will prove disastrous for her state. “I had hoped the president would lay out a plan to improve the bleak economic outlook in West Virginia and other states. Instead, he vowed to move forward with catastrophic regulations that threaten jobs and impede energy development while doing little to actually improve the environment,” Capito said in a statement.
Her sentiments were echoed by Rep. Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.), who went so far as to blame his state’s current economic situation on the president’s current climate efforts. “Because of the president’s policies, West Virginia’s economy is in decline. This administration’s anti-coal policies make it harder and harder to mine coal, burn coal, and provide good jobs for our coal miners and related industries,” Jenkins said in a statement.
The other side of the aisle was, predictably, more supportive of Obama’s climate statements. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) specifically praised the president’s mention of the true value of coal and called on the White House to reevaluate coal leasing on federal lands. “I’ve urged the administration to reform the outdated, unbalanced, coal leasing program and I’ll work with them to address the fact that coal off of federal lands is a sweetheart deal and a taxpayer rip-off. We must better account for carbon pollution here at home.”
Environmentalists also praised Obama’s efforts following the State of the Union, many also arguing that while the administration has taken several steps to address climate change, setting the first carbon emissions standards for coal plants and helping to establish the world’s first universal legally binding climate deal, it is not the time for the nation to rest on its laurels. “Without question, we made historic progress last year in fighting climate change, expediting our transition to a clean-energy economy, and protecting public health. As President Obama said tonight, though, much work remains,’’ Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement.
Conversely, the administration took some pushback from industrial groups such as the American Energy Alliance. Moving from coal will only prove to shutter low-cost power plants in favor of costly and unreliable energy sources such as wind and solar, raising electric prices and causing a loss of jobs, according to the group. “When it’s all said and done, the president’s legacy will be marred by higher energy costs for those who can least afford it, and fewer economic opportunities for young Americans just beginning to enter the workforce.” American Energy Alliance President Thomas Pyle said in a release.
