Senate Majority Leader [crscore]Mitch McConnell[/crscore] invited a former Kentucky coal mine worker to Tuesday’ State of The Union in a move to rebuke President Barack Obama’s energy policies.
McConnell invited Howard Abshire, who lost his job after his coal mine was shuddered. Abshire now works in Kentucky cleaning out the skeletons of closed down coal mines.
Obama will devote at least a portion of his address championing policies his administration has enacted to fight man-made global warming. He will also, no doubt, give reference to successes the global warming activists achieved when the Paris agreement was signed last month.
In a press statement Tuesday, coal lobbyists wrote that Obama will “undoubtedly overlook the economic impact that his costly climate plan will have on the nation and American families as they try to make ends meet.”
Mike Duncan, president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, warned the president before the address that federal regulations will demolish the coal industry.
“In the two years since the president’s infamous promise to use the pen and phone during his lame duck term, the administration has sidestepped Congress and usurped states’ rights time and again to fulfill his political legacy,” Duncan says, adding, “We would welcome an honest, open dialogue with the president about the true costs of his energy policies but past experience tells us this won’t occur.”
McConnell used the moment to publicize what coal miners have endured during Obama’s time in office. The Kentucky senator told reporters Obama needs to use his time to work with Republicans, not against them, on energy issues
McConnell says Abshire “has spent most of his life working in underground mines to help power our nation. However, the president’s war on coal has devastated coal country and unfortunately contributed to the loss of thousands of jobs in Kentucky, one of which was Howard’s.”
“I want to thank Senator McConnell for thinking of eastern Kentucky and inviting me and my wife to attend the State of the Union address. It is a privilege to represent the coal miners in Kentucky at this historic event,” Abshire said about the opportunity to attend the address.
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