“When you wipe out the jobs in these communities, and you drive up electricity costs, you create poverty, period. Folks back in those counties wonder why the EPA is making these decisions that deliberately hurt them.”
Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.
WASHINGTON, DC –Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) delivered the following opening statement at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on President Obama’s climate action plan, which included testimony from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy:
Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s Opening Statement:
“Madame Chairman, last week was the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty.
“The war began when President Lyndon Johnson visited with Tom Fletcher and his family on their front porch in Martin County, Kentucky.
“NPR did a story on this recently, and they said ‘at the time, the poverty rate in this coal-mining area was more than 60 percent. Johnson visited the Fletchers on the porch of their home — a small wooden structure with fake brick siding.’
“This is from the NPR study.
“The study went on to say ‘photographers took what would become one of the iconic images of the war on poverty: the president crouched down, chatting with Tom Fletcher about the lack of jobs.’
“You can flash forward to today.
“According to the Department of Agriculture, latest numbers for 2011, 38.6 percent of the population of Martin County is in poverty.
“NPR stated that this is twice the national average. ‘In addition, 47 percent of children in that county are in poverty.’
“NPR went on to say, ‘today, many people here rely on government aid. In fact, it’s the largest source of income in the county. They say ‘people say that it has helped to reduce hunger, improve health and health care and giving young families a boost, especially at a time,’ NPR said ‘when coal-mining jobs’ let me repeat, ‘when coal mining jobs . . .are disappearing. . . by the hundreds.’
“Now this is National Public Radio, not known as a conservative outfit that champions coal, those are the ones saying that.
“The actions of this Administration’s EPA to wipe out coal, and eventually natural gas,
is costing thousands of jobs and is driving up energy costs for many of the most vulnerable people in this country.
“And I can only conclude that this EPA is on the wrong side of the War on Poverty.
“In fact, this EPA is the tip of the spear that is sending energy producing communities like Martin County, Kentucky, like Campbell County in my home state of Wyoming, Marshall County in West Virginia, Belmont County in Ohio, back to the very days before Lyndon Johnson’s original declaration.
“When you wipe out the jobs in these communities, and you drive up electricity costs, you create poverty, period.
“Folks back in those counties wonder why the EPA is making these decisions that deliberately hurt them.”
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