FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday March 30, 2015
CONTACT: Jon Conradi
PHONE: 202-225-2711
Email: jon.conradi@mail.house.gov
Congressman Mooney Introduces Bill to Preempt a New Front in the War on Coal
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Alex Mooney (WV-02) has introduced H.R. 1644, the STREAM Act, to prevent implementation of a new stream buffer zone rule from the Office of Surface Mining in the Department of the Interior.
“West Virginia is blessed to be abundant in natural resources. Unfortunately, the President is intent on destroying coal as a domestic energy source,” said Congressman Mooney.
“In order to preempt the President from opening a new front in the War on Coal, I submitted the ‘STREAM Act’ this week. The bill would prevent the administration from implementing a new stream buffer zone rule intentionally designed to shut down all surface mining and a significant section of underground mining in the Appalachian region.”
“According to industry estimates, the expected rule from OSM would shutter tens of thousands of jobs in West Virginia and hundreds of thousands nationwide. The impact of such a serious hit to the coal industry would also have the effect of increasing home-energy prices for hardworking taxpayers. This bill protects the ability of Americans to seek prosperity from our nation’s natural bounty and is good policy for our families.”
Chairman of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Doug Lamborn (CO-05) joined Congressman Mooney as a co-sponsor of the STREAM Act saying:
“The STREAM Act is a critical piece of legislation designed to save taxpayer dollars and protect American jobs by fighting back against the Obama Administration’s assault on coal – an abundant, reliable, and affordable energy resource. Passage of this legislation is necessary to stop the Obama administration from continuing with its reckless rulemaking process on a needless regulation that will directly cost thousands of jobs for hardworking Americans and cause significant economic harm.”
The STREAM Act was introduced on Thursday of last week and is expected to move successfully through the Natural Resources Committee, which Congressman Mooney is a member.
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