FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 22, 2024
UMWA Challenges EPA’s New Carbon Emissions Standard
[TRANGLE, VA] The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) on Monday, May 20, filed a Petition for Review for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recently implemented carbon emission standards for coal-fired power plants. The petition was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts issued the following statement today:
“The impact of this rule will be devastating not only for our members but for thousands of families throughout coalfield communities. This devastation will occur quickly if this rule stands, as there are no equivalent jobs ready or even in the pipeline to replace the jobs that will be lost. This created exactly the situation we have been working to prevent for many years.
“In 2021, the UMWA released our “Preserving Coal Country” initiative, which made our first priority for the coalfields very clear: Preserve as many coal jobs as possible. Our analysis of this new EPA rule is that it will wipe out the vast majority of them by 2032. Those are our members, and we are obligated both legally and morally to fight for them. We will always put them first.
“We further believe this rule does not meet the bar set by the Supreme Court in its 2022 decision in West Virginia vs EPA. We therefore have no choice but to file this petition, suing the EPA and stopping this rule from ever being implemented.”
###
