Beshear Urges President To Change EPA Policies

Kentucky}...{A year ago, Governor Steve Beshear directed the state to join a lawsuit filed by the Kentucky Coal Association against the federal Environmental Protection Agency to prevent it from blocking coal projects by refusing to grant required permits. Governor Beshear is now appealing to President Barack Obama to change federal policies that he says are costing jobs in Kentucky's coal mining industry. As a follow-up to a meeting last week between Beshear and Obama, Beshear sent a letter to Obama earlier this week, saying the EPA is knocking Kentuckians out of high-paying jobs by obstructing the opening of new mines and the expansion of existing ones. Beshear said the EPA has unduly delayed 75 mining permits in eastern Kentucky that would have created crucial jobs at a time when the nation is struggling to pull out of a national recession. Beshear wrote, "Kentucky has experienced tremendous frustration over the uncertainty and overreaching policies of the Environmental Protection Agency." Beshear urged President Obama to help find a reasonable way to protect the environment while supporting the mining industry. Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett said the letter, dated Tuesday, is timely because a decision is imminent on 55 permit applications that are awaiting federal action.