It seems interesting that the EPA is being used as a cudgel against the coal industry by denying mining permits. That heavy-handedness will probably cost him when it comes to Cap-and-Trade since they need those coal state Dems to pass anything.
To get cap-and-trade past a cloture vote, Obama will need Rockefeller and fellow WV Democrat Robert Byrd. That’s not likely as long as the EPA attempts to hamstring the coal industry through heavy-handed regulatory encroachment. But cloture isn’t the real problem. Coal states have elected a number of Democrats, from Indiana to Ohio to Pennsylvania to West Virginia, none of whom will get re-elected if they kneecap their states’ economies by allowing the Obama administration to bankrupt the coal industry — especially through EPA overreach.
I wonder if this will actually help the coal suppliers like CONSOL and Arch Coal? I mean the EPA denying permits will help to constrain supply going forward. You would think that this would end up raising the price of coal and thus the profits of these coal suppliers. It could be an interesting way to play against Obama's EPA anti-coal tactics.
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