Daines: UM BBER Report Reaffirms Devastating Impact of Obama’s War on Affordable Energy

Announces telephone townhall to discuss alarming UM report, Daines’ efforts to block anti-coal regulations   

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Steve Daines today called a new report on the impact of President Obama’s anti-coal regulations “devastating for Montana” and announced that he will hold a telephone townhall meeting this evening to discuss the alarming report with Montanans.

The University of Montana (UM) Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) today released a study on the economic implications of implementing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan in Montana.  

The study shows that the EPA’s new regulations will likely lead to the full closure of Montana’s Colstrip Power Plant and the loss of more than 7,000 good-paying Montana jobs. The implementation of the regulations will also likely result in in the loss of $500 million in annual income for Montana households and the loss of $145 million per year in state and local revenues.

The report also details that the EPA’s regulations will change Montana from being a significant energy exporter to relying on imported power from other regions much of the time.

“This report reaffirms what Montanans have long known: Montanans can’t afford President Obama’s anti-coal agenda and this could be the biggest economic impact in Montana in decades,” Daines stated. “President Obama’s job-killing, anti-affordable energy regulations will devastate significant parts of Montana’s economy and likely shutter the Colstrip Power Plant. They will destroy thousands of family-wage union and tribal jobs, cause energy bills to skyrocket for Montana families and result in the loss of millions of dollars in tax revenue for our schools and roads. This report proves that President Obama’s war on energy is devastating for Montana and must be stopped.” 

In light of this news, Daines also announced that he will hold a telephone townhall meeting this evening to discuss the alarming BBER report and his work to stop the EPA regulations. During the event, Daines will share his views on the report and take questions and comments from Montanans.

The telephone townhall meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:00PM MT. 

Montanans interested in participating in tonight’s telephone townhall meeting may sign up here. Members of the press interested in listening in can RSVP and receive call-in information by emailing press@daines.senate.gov

Daines is an original cosponsor of two bipartisan Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval that will block the Obama administration’s regulations on new and existing coal-fired power plants.  The two resolutions passed the Senate last night on bipartisan vote of 52-46. 

Daines has long fought to protect Montana jobs and access to low-cost energy from the Obama administration’s overreach. Daines is an original cosponsor of the Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act (ARENA), which holds the EPA accountable and protects states’ rights by requiring the EPA to demonstrate how their proposed regulations could impact each state.

In April, Daines took EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to task for pushing forward new EPA carbon regulations without fully consulting affected states and tribes or addressing the plan’s detrimental impacts on coal production and jobs in Montana. 

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