At the 2004 Democratic National Convention, then-Illinois State Sen. Barack Obama famously started his road to the presidency with the speech that included the line: “There are no red states or blue states, just the United States.”
If only that were true. Instead, we have a president who not only shows preference to blue states, but also punishes red states and, most damaging, dismisses many other states. Democrats have followed him in lock step, especially when it comes to energy-producing states.
Democrats have totally retreated from supporting energy-producing states, as evidenced by their decision to throw Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., under the bus by not giving her the votes she wanted to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. She lost the election, and Democrats have essentially lost all their clout in the South.
If you come from a state that produces coal, you are persona non grata in the Obama White House. Coal-producing states like Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky might as well be located on Mars when it comes to attention from Obama.
But these states and others are paying attention to the snub. Once Democratic strongholds in coal-heavy districts in West Virginia, Kentucky and Illinois are steadily turning their backs on Democrats, and these dissed states, once blue states, are turning to Republicans who support coal. The reason is obvious.
As the president uses the EPA as a club against coal and coal-fired plants, new EPA regulations are likely to cost more than 40,000 jobs in Pennsylvania alone. According to The Heritage Foundation, as a result of the EPA’s proposed rule, it could terminate 600,000 American jobs by 2023 while dampening economic growth by more than $2 trillion.
As of March 2014, there were around 79,000 jobs in coal mining in the United States, 8.3 percent fewer than a year earlier.
Coal generates 40 percent of America’s electricity — more than any other energy source. Its stable price and abundance insulates the U.S. economy from spikes in energy demand. Yet by imposing onerous emissions standards on all existing power plants, the National Mining Association estimates that more than 300 plants will retire nationwide due to EPA rules during the next six years. When mines and plants shut down, manufacturing costs rise and employment plummets.
Guess which states are getting the most attention — those blue states that support solar and wind energy. These are Obama’s energy darlings, which have received $150 billion of taxpayer money.
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