Washington, D.C. — Center for American Progress Counselor and former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) will be joined by Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) and Executive Director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council Brad Markell for a press conference call on Monday, February 9, at 9:30 a.m. to announce a new CAP proposal aimed at revitalizing Appalachian coal communities. The proposal calls for the reform of the U.S. Department of the Interior, or DOI, coal royalties program that provides an unfair advantage to coal mined on federal lands in the West. Gov. Strickland and Rep. Cartwright will also hold a roundtable discussion with regional stakeholders in Pennsylvania later that morning. The discussion will be open to the press.
Coal communities in Appalachia have been hit hard by powerful market forces, including the rise in natural gas production, a shift in coal production to easier-to-mine lands in the West, cheap imports, and a global supply glut. But federal coal policy is exacerbating these challenges by distorting the U.S. coal market. Currently, DOI’s outdated federal coal program fails to ensure that mining companies pay royalties on the true market price of the coal they extract from taxpayer-owned lands. This amounts to billions of dollars in de facto subsidies for western coal, artificially driving down coal prices and making it harder for struggling coal communities in Appalachia to compete. Fixing the flaws in this program would raise millions of dollars per year that Congress can reinvest in programs designed to revitalize Appalachian communities, such as those outlined in President Barack Obama’s recent budget proposal.
Press call:
WHO:
Former Gov. Ted Strickland (D-OH), Counselor, Center for American Progress
Rep. Matt Cartwright (D), Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District
Brad Markell, Executive Director, AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council
Greg Dotson, Vice President for Energy Policy, Center for American Progress
WHEN:
Monday, February 9, 2015
9:30 am ET
WHERE:
Dial-in number: 888.466.4462
Conference ID: 3203702
Roundtable discussion:
WHO:
Former Gov. Ted Strickland (D-OH), Counselor, Center for American Progress
Rep. Matt Cartwright (D), Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District
WHEN:
Monday, February 9, 2015
10:15 a.m. ET – 11:15 a.m. ET
WHERE:
Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance
1151 Oak St.
Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640-3726
Event is open to press. Participants will be available for interviews following the meeting.
For interviews or additional information, please contact Shane Seaver at 202.225.5546 or [email protected] or Tom Caiazza at [email protected] or 202.481.7141.
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