The war against Barack Obama’s war on coal is heating up. The advocacy group American Commitment is out with a pair of ads hitting both a Republican and a Democrat for failing to halt the Obama EPA’s MACT rule from taking effect. The MACT, or “maximum achievable control technology” rule, would impose emissions standards on coal-fired power plants that threaten to drive many of them out of business, killing jobs and driving overall electricity prices sky high. Several plants have either already shut down or are in the process of shutting down due to the MACT rule.
The first of the pair of American Commitment’s ads targets Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat. It calls on him to help protect coal-producing West Virginia from the EPA:
The second targets Sen. Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Republican, for “joining Obama’s war on coal.”
Alexander is specifically refusing to vote for Sen. Jim Inhofe’s anti-MACT measure, S.J. Res. 37. Inhofe’s resolution is expected to come up for a vote this month, and would overturn the MACT rule.
American Commitment has released a letter today that calls on senators to vote “Yes” on SJR 37. The letter says “Utility MACT is the most expensive environmental regulation in history, will increase electricity and natural gas prices (hitting low-income households hardest) and will put tens of thousands of Americans out of work.” The letter also notes that utility MACT is “part of an attempt to circumvent Congress and advance the same extreme anti-energy agenda that Congress and the American people already rejected when it was offered by President Obama as cap-and-trade.”
The American Commitment letter is signed by a who’s who of pro-growth groups and leaders, including James Valvo of Americans for Prosperity, Chris Chocola of the Club for Growth, David Williams of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, and the leaders of Less Government, Freedomworks and Heritage Action for America, among many others.
American Commitment is putting $1 million behind the ads, which will air in Tennessee, West Virginia, New Hampshire and Maine. American Commitment’s entire letter is below.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member