Press Releases

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement after the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) released a regulation to set greenhouse gas New Source Performance Standards for new coal-fired power plants:

“Current federal policies, let alone the regulation announced today, are devastating the economy of the Ninth District of Virginia.  Each week, our region must absorb the devastating impacts of the Administration’s war on coal.  This assault, though targeting the coal industry, affects us all.  It’s not just those working in the coal fields that suffer – also suffering are industries that rely on coal mines.

“This EPA regulation would require a new coal-fired power plant to use technologies that are not yet available in the marketplace.  These regulations will fulfill one of the President’s promises from his 2008 campaign, and send our electric rates sky-high.  President Obama also admitted in 2008 that the cost of these policies will be passed on to consumers.  We all know who those people are.  Those ‘consumers’ are hard-working, middle-class Americans.

“I strongly urge President Obama and EPA Administrator McCarthy to declare a ceasefire in the war on coal and stop the regulatory assault on America’s power sector, related businesses, and hard-working American people.”

Griffith questioned EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy at a September 18, 2013 Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing.  Video can be seen here.

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