Local miners may want to put savings into a rainy day fund because it appears that a storm is on the horizon. A U.S. Supreme Court case, WV v. Environmental Protection Agency was heard on February 22nd of this year and the decision will come down sometime over the summer. If the EPA is successful, it will effectively limit the amount of mines that can operate in the state, leading to the potential of layoffs. So while it may seem that coal is booming, it would be wise to save money until this case has been decided.
I am no stranger to the financial hardships associated with inconsistency in the coal industry. My grandmother was forced to raise three children on $50 a day in the 1950s when her first husband died in a mining accident. I likewise recall the depression that followed after the Obama Administration took office, and mining operations began laying off droves of workers. As it would appear, West Virginia may once again be veering toward a similar depression, depending on the result of this case.
The issue of the case comes down to whether a federal agency can regulate the emissions of an entire state. Congress gave the EPA a great deal of authority to address greenhouse gas emissions as a result of 1977 changes made to the Clean Air Act. The EPA already has the authority to limit carbon-emissions from coal-fired power plants and the like. This is likely good, since regulations on individual coal mines prevents them from over polluting the air to the point that West Virginians’ health would be at risk.
Put plainly, it forces mines to follow rules that would save lives and promote clean air without the effect damaging the entire coal mining industry of West Virginia. Further, it prevents mines from producing smog that would reduce the natural beauty of the state. Preserving Appalachia’s beauty is crucial to expanding the region’s growing tourism industry.
However, the EPA is seeking to overreach its power and extend to regulating emissions generally for whole states, including West Virginia and coal-dependent states like it. If it succeeds, the EPA could set an emissions “cap” that would prevent new mines from opening that could create jobs and could force existing mines to close, resulting in layoffs. The EPA claims that regulating entire states could drastically reduce emissions in the coming years; however, it ignores the reality that many states like West Virginia currently have no high-paying alternative to blue-collar coal jobs. After the enormous contribution and sacrifice that miners have made for our nation, it will once again suffer at the hands of bureaucracy.
The West Virginia Attorney General’s Office sought to present this narrative to the Supreme Court. It argued in February that the EPA’s overreach of regulating entire states’ emissions presented a “major question.” It argued that Congress, in drafting the Clean Air Act, could not have possibly intended an office in Washington, D.C. to have such commanding control of a state’s economy. Further, the Attorney General’s Office suggests that if Congress had intended the EPA to have such control over states’ economies, it would have done so clearly, leaving no room for misinterpretation.
Complicating matters worse is the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, and world’s increased demand for fossil fuel not generated in Russia. West Virginia has the capacity to stand as a leader in providing energy to Western Europe, which was heavily dependent on Russian fossil fuels. However, if the EPA is successful in its attempt to overregulate West Virginia’s economy, this opportunity will be lost.
My advice for West Virginia coal miners, truckers, and any person reliant on the coal industry is to prepare for the worst! While West Virginia v. EPA is strange in that there was no decision made by a lower court, the Supreme Court in the past has often sided with federal agencies on issue of environmental concern. Therefore, it should be no surprise if the EPA wins this case and is able to regulate emissions for all of West Virginia. Nevertheless, it is also likely that the conservative leanings of the Supreme Court may lend in favor of West Virginia. Frankly, only time will tell.
Unlike issues in Congress, average citizens cannot easily influence the decisions of the Supreme Court. There is no hotline to call or representative to write. Instead, miners should save money and wait patiently for the decision to come down, getting prepared for if the worst comes to be. All I can say, coming from a blue-collar family with many coal miners, is that West Virginia and its people have sacrificed their time and bodies to provide energy for this country. What miners have earned for that sacrifice should not be taken away without at least reflecting on that sacrifice.
Jacob Snuffer is a 2L Law Student at the Appalachian School of Law and a proud West Virginian.