The Pennsylvania Coal Alliance and several of its members testified at the Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee hearing on Wednesday, July 24.  The hearing took place underground in a coal mine in Greene County, PA. Click hear to watch a recap of the hearing.

The Pennsylvania Coal Alliance (PCA) today announced an independent report conducted by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development on the economic impact of the coal mining industry in Pennsylvania. The study revealed Pennsylvania’s coal industry remains a dominant force, creating economic value in communities across Pennsylvania with major capital investments, payrolls and an abundance of goods and services.

City & State spoke to three experts deeply involved in energy and environmental discussions: Patrick McDonnell, president and CEO of PennFuture; Rachel Gleason, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance; and Patrick Cicero, the Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate, on the proposals and how everyone from producers to consumers could be impacted going forward.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new suite of regulations aimed at forcing the premature closure of America’s most reliable and resilient coal-fired power plants is a haphazard and dangerous threat to our grid’s electricity supply, national security and our economy.

Last year, the Maryland General Assembly announced plans to reduce its output of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions 60% by 2031. The Climate Pollution Reduction Plan was sold as a roadmap to achieve near-term climate goals and a path to reach net zero emissions by 2045, setting the tone for environmental and energy decision-making throughout the state. The problem with this roadmap is that it leads to nowhere but disruption to the reliability of our electric supply and a higher cost to all ratepayers, including Pennsylvanians. Yes, Pennsylvania ratepayers will pay part of the costs generated by the closure of thermal generation like coal, natural gas, oil, or nuclear facilities in Maryland.

“Former Governor Tom Wolf unilaterally initiated Pennsylvania’s participation in RGGI by ignoring and simply bypassing Pennsylvania’s legislature. In the ruling, the Court indicated ‘The power to levy taxes is specifically reserved to the General Assembly.’ ‘We cannot . . . agree with [DEP] Secretary McDonnell’s argument that the allowance auction proceeds do not constitute a tax.’