CHARLESTON – Senate President Bill Cole will join Speaker of the House Tim Armstead, Chris Hamilton, Vice Chairman of the West Virginia Coal Forum and Senior Vice President of the West Virginia Coal Association, and other Delegates and Senators on Monday, May 18, to support U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s proposed Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act (ARENA), which was co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, and encourage state and federal officials to work together to ensure its success.
ARENA seeks to roll back President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, part of which proposes standards of emission reductions for new and existing power plants. The Act would provide a way for a state’s governor to opt out of a state or federal plan that could negatively impact economic growth or electricity ratepayers, and it would prevent EPA from withholding federal highway funds from states who do not comply with the Clean Power Plan.