JESSEE RING SUPPORTS THE COAL INDUSTRY
Opposed to The Cap and Trade Scheme
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Cedar Bluff, VA, Feb. 22, 2010 – Mr. Jessee Bane Ring, candidate for the nomination to run for Congress in November, attended the cap and trade town hall meeting at Southwest Virginia Community College today.

“I am totally opposed to the cap and trade bill because it is specifically designed to bankrupt the coal industry and to cause electricity rates to skyrocket,” said Ring. “This destructive bill is in response to the global warming scare, which we now know is based upon junk science”, Ring added.

At the meeting, Congressman Rick Boucher acknowledged that the cap and trade bill that passed in the House of Representatives was not a good bill, but said that he voted for it in order to help the coal industry. “I had to vote for this bill to help coal”, said Boucher. He said that if he had voted against the bill, then he would have been out of the discussion and would not have been able to “soften” the impact of the bill.

“Our goal should not be to ‘soften’ this destructive bill, our goal should be to stop it,” said Ring after the meeting. “When I go to Congress, I’ll fight for the interests of the Ninth District; I will not go along to get along.”

During the discussions at the meeting, it was noted that the cap and trade bill sets up CO2 emission allowances, which initially will be given away by the Federal Government, but which will have to be purchased starting in 2020. This will drive up the price of coal-generated electricity at that time, unless some as-yet-undeveloped technology becomes available by then. The bill also provides for “offsets” whereby industries can pay another company to plant trees, for example, to offset that industry’s CO2 emissions. The cost of these offsets will also push up the price of coal-fired electricity, as well as for any industry that has CO2 emissions.

Bob Blue, Vice President for External Affairs at Dominion Power and Jim McGlothlin, President of United Coal Company, said at the meeting that they endorsed the cap and trade bill because it was “the lesser of two evils”, the other evil being regulation from the EPA. Hal Quinn, President of the National Mining Association, the leading organization that speaks for the coal industry in the U.S., said that his group did not endorse the bill.

When the panel was asked how much electricity rates will go up if cap and trade is passed, they said that rates will go up, but it is not known by how much.

One meeting attendee noted that the Wall Street Journal has said that cap and trade will be the largest tax increase in American history.

Jessee Ring
Feb.22, 2010