Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce Business Journal Q3 2014 | Page 8

U.S. Senator
Mike Enzi

The fight against coal affects
small businesses
Running your own business is
The truth is that coal powers
rewarding, but it comes with its
America. Almost 70 percent of all
challenges. As a former small
energy produced in this country
business owner I know how difficult
came from the ground, most of it
it is to juggle the many expenses
coal. In Wyoming, coal is one of
involved in running a business.
our largest employers. It provides
The last thing any small business
high-paying jobs to our residents
needs is skyrocketing energy
and folks all across the country.
bills. But that is exactly what will
Actions have consequences, and
happen if President Obama and
these proposed regulations will
the EPA get their way. The
have a real, tangible,
administration
recently
measureable impact on
“An
proposed new regulations
increase of the economy at a time
on power plant emissions
when job creation should
that will cost businesses that size would be our focus.
all over America more for be noticed by
their energy bills.
almost
The president may

everyone.”

No business likes to see
their electric bill go up and states
that rely on coal for their power
see on average 30 percent lower
electric costs than states that rely
on other fuels. An increase of that
size would be noticed by almost
everyone. Low-cost energy could
help create more than 1 million
jobs over the next decade and
lure more investment in American
manufacturing.
Aimed at putting coal out of
business, these new greenhouse
gas regulations will cause billions in
annual economic losses. Hundreds
of thousands of people will lose
their jobs and businesses will be
saddled with billions in costs –
which will eventually be passed on
to consumers in the form of double
digit energy price increases.

PG 8 l

Update

want us to move away
from coal, but I think we
should embrace it. If we want our
businesses to succeed, we need
to allow them room to innovate,
and that includes coal. George
Washington Carver developed over
100 products from peanuts. Think
what we could do with coal if we
spent more time and resources
developing this abundant resource
instead of trying to destroy it.
American ingenuity would lead
to our next energy revolution. But
that’s not happening. Instead, a
project the University of Wyoming
and the private sector were working
on to produce cleaner energy from
coal was cancelled because of this
president’s efforts to kill coal. To
invent and invest there has to be a
future market.
The Republican Leader has already
introduced legislation to stop this

reckless move by the EPA, and I
am proud to join him in his effort.
Our bill is sim