Coal Age Magazine - For more than 100 years, Coal Age has been the magazine that readers can trust for guidance and insight on this important industry.
Issue link: https://coal.epubxp.com/i/863175
8 www.coalage.com July/August 2017 news continued d a t e l i n e w a s h i n g t o n Editor's note: The following is a transcript of the speech Hal Quinn (left), president and CEO of the Na- tional Mining Association, delivered at Longwall USA 2017 in June. When I was here two years ago, we discussed the twin forces we faced — the market and our govern- ment. We have always faced market forces, but never the relentless wrath of our own government. To appreciate just how much has changed since then, let's review just how wrathful our government was under the Obama administration. • Within 60 days of taking office, it imposed a permit moratorium for coal mines in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. The moratorium and accompanying policies decreased productivity at Central Ap- palachian mines by 20%, according to the Department of Energy. Production in the region dropped 45% over the next five years. • A rule misleadingly labeled as "stream protection" that provided no more protections than what already existed, but brought plenty of duplication, confusion and higher costs threatening the jobs of one-third of the coal workforce. • On its way out of office, the Obama administration put in place a moratorium on coal leasing for federal lands — a source of 40% of the nation's coal supply. • In between, the administration issued two massive regulations aimed directly at our markets: o The first, the so-called Mercury rule, forced the closure of al- most 20% of coal's utility market; and it had little to do with mercury. About 70% of the costs arose from emission controls that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) admitted did not pose any threat to public health. o The second, the falsely advertised Clean Power Plan, would have doubled the closure of baseload coal plants — all in the name of climate change that the EPA conceded would not "change" as a result of this rule. The Obama administration passed off the consequences of this policy — the plants shuttered, the jobs lost, the communities devastated — as simply the product of market forces. Now the pundits and Obama's cheerleaders brush aside this history so they can advance the same false narrative — that coal's decline is almost singularly the result of the free market. If this is the free market, ask them the following: Suppose the gov- ernment forced Target to close 20% of its stores, dropping sales like a rock and causing scores of layoffs. Would these same pundits look down the street and blame Target's woes on competition from Wal-Mart? I suspect not. That's why these so-called experts will continue to deny signs of coal's revival once these policies no longer restrict our abil- ity to compete. That day may soon be at hand because of the changes we have seen from President Donald Trump's administration. When over the previous eight years could you have imagined any of the following? • Coal miners in the White House to witness a president signing a piece of legislation voiding a regulation that would have destroyed their jobs. • Coal miners as the guests of honor at the EPA — the scene of so many crimes against them — to witness the president signing an Energy Independence Executive Order with the vice president and three cabinet members standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them. • The EPA administrator entering the largest underground coal min- ing complex in North America and later that day taking action to postpone another EPA rule that would close more coal plants. • The vice president and the secretary of interior touring coal mines in Montana seeing the production of real energy and the restoration of mined lands. • And, the secretary of labor crossing the street to the National Mining Association's offices to sit down with us and learn more about how we reached all-time lows in injury rates — a performance that would be the envy of any industry. All of this happened in just the last four months. These were not just photo ops, but triggered substantial change. In February, I was honored to be with our coal miners in the White House when the president signed a bill voiding the Office of Surface Min- ing's devastating Stream rule — a rule that would have impaired the recoverability of at least one-third of our nation's coal reserves — most notably those with the greatest potential for high extraction mining with longwalls. You could see the genuine affinity President Trump has for coal miners — he appeared much more comfortable with them than the pol- iticians crowding around him to snatch one of the signing pens. I am pleased to report that the president insisted that the first pen went to the coal miners. A month later, I was proud to be with our coal miners at the EPA for a ceremony when the president signed an executive order directing the EPA and other federal agencies to start unwinding a menu of anti-coal policies beginning with the "Clean Power Plan." Change is happening and more is on the way. Let pundits bet against coal's comeback. At NMA we are busy mining the policy opportu- nities presented by this new administration. Change We Can Believe In "Change is happening, and more is on the way."