Clinton’s Remarks on Coal Dangerous

Ninety percent of our power comes from coal. It truly is an invaluable resource.

Coal not only provides electricity, it provides jobs for thousands of people in our state and puts food on the table for Kentucky families every day. Cheap energy also gives our state a competitive advantage in attracting new industries.

Among the biggest enemies of the coal industry in Kentucky has been President Barack Obama and his Environmental Protection Agency, which has waged war on coal. They have done everything they can to run coal out of business in Kentucky and other states, costing thousands of people their jobs in the process.

Because of Obama’s war on coal, coal production in Eastern Kentucky plunged in 2015 to a level not seen since the low point of the Great Depression in 1932, costing more than 2,000 people their jobs.

Statewide, Kentucky produced 61.4 million tons of coal in 2015. That was down 20.7 percent from 2014. The decline was 25.3 percent in Eastern Kentucky and 16.4 percent in Western Kentucky, according to a report by the state Energy and Environment Cabinet.

Obama and company have paid the price for it at the ballot box, with the election of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and re-election of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who have both fought tirelessly against Obama’s war on coal. It’s safe to say that Obama’s war on coal helped propel Republican Gov. Matt Bevin to office, as many of his votes came from coal miners.

While Obama’s position on coal is well known, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s position is known quite well now. On Sunday, Clinton was asked how her new policies would benefit poor white people in Southern states who generally vote Republican.

Clinton responded by saying, “I’m the only candidate, which has a policy about how to bring economic opportunity, using clean renewable energy as the key, into coal country. Because we’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business. We’re going to make it clear that we don’t want to forget those people.”

So, Clinton wants to put coal miners and coal companies out of business. These words from the Democratic hopeful indicate she is a carbon copy of Obama when it comes to coal.