Paris Climate Accord: 'Big Plus for the Coal Industry'
By Charlie Boothe
June 3, 2017 - Coal officials in West Virginia are applauding Pres. Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, saying it will in the long run be beneficial to the industry.
“I see it of course as a big plus for the coal industry,” said Rick Taylor, president of the Pocahontas Coal Association. “I don’t know that it will give us anything immediately but the accord would be taking away from coal in the future.”
Withdrawing from the accord should help, he said, because it could eventually have meant a higher tax on coal, making coal produced in this country more expensive.
“The regulations on emissions would also make it harder on us to meet the standards that it would bring for air quality,” he said. “What it (withdrawing from the accord) does for us is to eliminate some of those regulations that would be coming on us in the future.”
Taylor does think the withdrawal could have a more immediate impact.
“One of the big positives I see is, if you are wanting to make an investment in coal it gives you a better future, a better outlook to make an investment,” he said. “You would not have that accord on your back, not knowing of any taxes or burdens associated with it that could be coming.”
Taylor said it also fits in well with the Trump Administration’s overall efforts to curtail environmental regulations that have hurt the coal industry.
What impact the accord will actually have on any climate warming is difficult to understand, he said.
“I think they are shooting from the hip (with the accord) and it’s an expensive shooting from the hip,” he said. “It would hammer the economy but I don’t know if it’s worth it.”
Environmental regulations are needed, he said, and they are already in place.
The West Virginia Coal Association and its members also support Trump’s decision to halt implementation of the Paris Climate Accord.
“President Trump has continued to live up to his campaign promise to put America first and to help the coal industry recover from the regulatory assault of the previous eight years,” said Coal Association President Bill Raney. “We objected to the United States being part of this agreement back when the previous administration signed onto it. The Paris Climate Accord is an economic suicide pact, make no mistake, so the President’s action is welcome news, to say the least.”
Trump said compliance with the accord would have imposed restrictions on electric power generation, manufacturing and nearly every other sector of the economy that would have cost Americans as many as 2.7 million jobs by 2025.
The President cited further research that predicted that coal jobs and economic activity would be reduced by as much as 86 percent.
Raney said that supporters of the Paris agreement admit that a fully implemented climate accord would produce a minuscule reduction in global temperatures by 2100.
“It is so reassuring to have a president who is doing everything he can to protect the jobs of the best coal miners in the world,” he said. “We share President Trump’s confidence in EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s ability to protect our environment and our economy.”
Most state political leaders also support the withdrawal.
“President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement is the right decision for the American economy and workers in West Virginia and across the country,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., after Trump’s announcement. “West Virginians have suffered tremendous economic calamity as a result of the Obama administration’s anti-coal agenda, and President Obama should not have unilaterally committed the United States to an international climate agreement without the consent of the Senate.
Capito said the action aligns with Trump’s other moves to try to help the state’s economy, but she also recognized the need to improve the environment.
“Moving forward, it is important that we keep working to advance new technologies that improve the environment as we continue to utilize our coal and natural gas reserves more efficiently,” she said.