Eastern Coal Conference

Rep. Phil RoeTN-01

Coal’s Past 18 Months

• Legislative– House Cap-and-Trade Bill– Lieberman/Kerry Legislation

• Regulatory– MSHA/Congressional Investigation over Safety– EPA Guidance on Surface Coal Mining– EPA Effort to Reclassify CO2 as Pollutant

Mountaintop/Surface Coal Mining

•Coal yields 44% of our electricity nationwide•Mountaintop Mining accounts for 10% of coal supply, which is nearly 5% of overall electricity supply•EPA’s April 1, 2010 guidance has not had to stand up to public scrutiny

Safety Regulations

• New Regulations May Be Needed

• Concern About Legislative Overreach

• Right Regulations v. Overregulation

Miners Lives Are On The Line – Must Get It Right

Mine Safety After Upper Big Branch

• Key Questions Congress Will Try to Answer:– What happened and why?– Was there a pattern of violation?– Could whistleblower protections have helped?

Effects of Cap-and-Tax

• Average increase of $3,100 per household if all costs estimated in an MIT study are passed on to consumers

• 3 million manufacturing jobs lost; 800,000 jobs lost total (Heritage)

• $5 trillion in GDP lost over 20 years (Heritage)• Decreased competitiveness with China and

India (not required to lower emissions)

States Differing Electricity Costs

Tennessee

• Costs $8.18/kWh• Primary Sources

– Coal: 63%– Nuclear 30%– Hydroelectric: 6%

Connecticut

• Costs $17.79/kWh• Primary Sources

– Nuclear: 50%– Natural Gas: 26%– Coal: 14%

Source: Energy Information Administration

Why is There Support for Cap-and-Trade?

• High-Cost Energy States Raise Cost of Coal

• Low-Cost Energy States See Prices Rise

• Employers Stop Moving Jobs Out of High-Cost Energy States

Cap-and-Trade Becomes an Equalizer

Energy = Good v. Evil?