Just say no

Opinion

February 3, 2010

<b>Congress must shut down Obama plan to eliminate mine cleanup payments</b>

Anonymous The Register-Herald Wed Feb 03, 2010, 07:23 PM EST

Any new step, or kick, the Obama administration takes against coal comes as no surprise. But we still have to shake our heads.

President Obama now wants to cut $115 million this year — and $1.2 billion over 10 years — by eliminating payments to states and Indian tribes that have completed cleanups of abandoned coal mines.

Never mind that coal companies in those areas are still being assessed a 35-cent tax on each ton of coal produced for the Abandoned Mine Land program, as they have been since Congress initiated the program in 1977 with passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.

Never mind that lawmakers from mining states say the money is needed to create jobs and clean up other mines that continue to pose a danger.

Never mind that the cleanup money helps support programs ranging from university research to reclamation projects at abandoned mine sites.

Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., said eliminating the mine cleanup program is like a bank manager telling customers they can’t withdraw money from a savings account where they’ve been depositing money for 30 years.

“After years of keeping our money hostage, we finally got some paid back and now they want to steal it again,” Enzi said.

Obama tried the same thing last year and was rebuffed in Congress. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., vows to keep the program intact.

“I understand we need to tighten our belt and cut wasteful spending, but it makes absolutely no sense to cut a program that has such a strong record of job creation and quality results,” Baucus said, adding the program “is all about creating jobs and keeping folks safe ...”

Baucus is right. At a time when the nation is still trying to recover from a severe economic downturn, it makes no sense to kill jobs.

Then again, it makes no sense for a president to have a negative stance against an industry that for generations has been the source of reliable, affordable energy.

But that’s the way he campaigned two years ago. And he’s following up on what he said he would do.

This won’t be the end of it. The pro coal forces must have the staying power to keep saying, “No.”

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<b>Congress must shut down Obama plan to eliminate mine cleanup payments</b>

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