RICHMOND, VA – Longtime conservative leader, 2014 U.S. Senate candidate and 2017 Republican candidate for Governor Ed Gillespie released the following statement Monday on the Interior Department’s final anti-coal rule. The Interior Department finalized the rule Monday, despite pledges by the incoming administration and congressional leaders to roll back the regulation.
“Despite the electorate’s resounding repudiation of such policies last month, this administration is rushing out last minute, heavy-handed regulations of questionable additional environmental benefit but certain significant damage to the already-devastated coal industry. Virginia’s next governor will need to be able to work quickly with the Trump administration to roll back onerous federal regulations that cost our coal miners their jobs and hurt the families and small businesses that rely on them. As Governor, I’ll fight for every last coal job, develop a plan to revitalize manufacturing and align our education system with the needs of the marketplace so Southwest Virginia can thrive and prosper.”