8. COAL: Ky. Dems feel industry ire(05/11/2011)

Manuel Quinones, E&E reporter


Kentucky Democratic Reps. John Yarmuth and Ben Chandler are in hot water with the coal mining industry for their support of legislation to curtail mountaintop removal mining, a practice that involves removing a mountain's surface to reach the coal and dumping the debris or overburden nearby.

In neighboring West Virginia, where coal mining is even more ubiquitous, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are usually on the same page when it comes to their support of the industry. The same cannot be said for Kentucky. While many coal state lawmakers are pushing back against U.S. EPA efforts to increase environmental oversight of mining, Yarmuth welcomes the agency's actions.

"I am fully in favor of making sure EPA has full power to decide what to put into our waterways," he said.

Yarmuth and Chandler are among 70 co-sponsors of a bill (H.R. 1375) from Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) that would amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify that fill material cannot be comprised of waste (E&E Daily, April 7).

Environmentalists, who generally want to ban mountaintop removal mining, are welcoming the effort. The mining industry, on the other hand, considers the legislation an attack on its livelihood. Industry advocates have said valley fills are an essential aspect of surface coal mining.

"Kentucky needs jobs. We don't need our congressman supporting legislation that destroys jobs," Phil Osborne, executive director of the Kentucky Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security, an advocacy group, said in a statement.

Few coal state lawmakers are co-sponsors of the legislation other than Chandler and Yarmuth.

"I know the coal industry is not particularly happy with me and some of the state legislators from that area are not particularly pleased with my position," Yarmuth said in an interview. "I think in my district, I have far more support than I have opposition for that. A lot of people are opposed to mountaintop removal."

Despite being from a major coal producing state, Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) is also backing the legislation. But she is from an urban district in the Philadelphia area and away from the state's coal mining areas to the west. Something similar can be said of Yarmuth, who represents the city of Louisville. Chandler's more rural 6th District, however, is closer to his state's mining operations.

Neither Chandler nor a spokeswoman responded to calls and email requests for comment.

Chandler won re-election last year by less than 1 percent of the vote as Republicans tried to tie him to liberal national Democratic leaders despite his more moderate voting record. He did, however, support the cap-and-trade bill that passed the House in 2009, and his opponents will be watching closely to see how he votes on several environmental measures this Congress.

"Legislation like this is wrong in spirit, it's wrong in science and it's wrong for Kentucky," Osborne said. "Given his ultra-liberal, anti-job stance on most issues I'm not terribly shocked by Mr. Yarmuth's support of the bill but I really thought Congressman Chandler knew better or cared more."

Yarmuth, however, is unapologetic. Having been a journalist before becoming a lawmaker, he said he has reported on the negative effects of mountaintop removal mining.

"I have been to the mountaintop removal sites. I have seen what it's done to the streams surrounding them," he said. "I've had citizens from that area bring me the water that they have taken out of their wells and streams. Nobody should be forced to live like that."

Kentucky has more than 400 coal mines, many of them mountaintop removal operations, according to recent Energy Information Administration statistics. Much of the mining occurs in the eastern part of the state.

Environmentalists are skeptical of coal's long-term economic benefits and say mining has failed to lift many areas out of poverty. Still, coal industry advocates tout statistics showing that coal mining supports thousands of well-paying jobs in states like Kentucky. In some areas, like Pike County, the industry employs a significant block of the workforce. Plus, Kentucky relies on coal for almost all of its electricity.

"If we are going to be competitive in the global marketplace as a country, we are going to need coal, because it provides the lowest cost electricity," said Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), a strong coal supporter and critic of the Obama administration's energy policies.

Coal boosters may not be able to stop all EPA oversight efforts but they are in a position to prevent the Pallone legislation from even being considered, especially with the new GOP majority in the House. The bill has failed in the past and will likely remain untouched for the remainder of this Congress.

"It's unrealistic to think we can pass it," Yarmuth said. "Still it's a statement that needs to be made."