Many groups are in support of President Obama’s climate change policies, and many are against it. Since the president’s address on the matter earlier today we have seen many groups issue statements and press releases on the matter. While you could have guessed that an association around coal was not going to be favorable on the Obama plan, one headline truly stood out: “If Obama Continues to Adopt Regulations, Coal Power Could Cease to Exist” was issued by the group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). We also have statements from nuclear power and fuel and petrochemical players today.

The group’s president is Mike Duncan and he said:

This is going to be a legacy issue for the President, a legacy of higher energy costs, lost jobs, and a shattered economy. The coal-fueled electricity industry has demonstrated its commitment to the environment by investing more than $100 billion, so far, to produce cleaner electricity, and the industry will invest another $100 billion to reduce its environmental footprint even further over the next 15 years. If the Obama administration fails to recognize the environmental progress the industry has made and continues to adopt more regulations, coal power could cease to exist which would be devastating for our economy.

So, $100 billion has been invested, which is from the coal lobby and the power-producing lobby (http://www.cleancoalusa.org/). The group also issued a statement earlier in the day stating that EPA regulations have played a major role in the announced closure of 288 coal plants in 32 states, equivalent to shutting down the entire electricity supply of the state of New York. The main message: Americans understand that coal must be a part of America’s clean energy future.

The Nuclear Energy Institute also put out its stance that nuclear power must be part of clean energy solutions.

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers said:

We welcome the fact that President Obama seems to be finally acknowledging the value of the Keystone XL pipeline. However, actions speak louder than words. We hope his statement means the State Department will immediately approve the pipeline, since several environmental reviews have concluded that building Keystone XL will lead to fewer greenhouse gas emissions than if we did not build it.

FULL STATEMENT

Obama’s Plan from the White House is here.

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