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The West Virginia Coal Forum extends its gratitude and praise to West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey for helping to halt the federal government’s so-called “Clean Power Plan.”

The Coal Forum is an organization representing business and labor in West Virginia’s coal industry.

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision halts the clean power plan in its tracks, giving our coal industry some much-needed breathing room,” said Coal Forum Co-chairman Chris Hamilton. “This is all because of the efforts of our Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. His determination and leadership have never failed West Virginia and the coal industry since he first came into office.”

Late in the day Feb. 9, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a stay in implementation of the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan, offering the coal industry a much-needed bit of positive news. 

“We know the president and his EPA want to wreck the coal industry, but thankfully the Supreme Court has intervened,” said Fred Tucker, Coal Forum Co-Chairman. “West Virginia’s coal miners just want to work, and we hope this decision will in some small way help our industry recover from the War on Coal.”

In a 5-4 decision split along party lines, the nation’s high court agreed with Morrisey and the coalition of 27 states that he organized to oppose the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s plans. The justices halted enforcement of the Clean Power Plan until the legal challenges against it have been adjudicated. 

Appellate arguments are set for June 2.

 “Now that the highest court in the nation has recognized the legal problems with the president’s plan, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin should take no further action to comply with the mandates under the Clean Power Plan,” Hamilton said. “West Virginia should not submit a state implementation plan. Why continue to put West Virginia’s coal industry at risk – thereby raising electricity rates and keeping thousands of miners out of work? Let’s put all of that on hold and let General Morrisey and his coalition continue the fight against EPA